What the daughter does, the mother did. ~Jewish Proverb

That is probably true of Payson! Although, I probably gave my parents a harder time than she gives me. But yesterday was so much fun!! Brennan mentioned this place, Jump On It, to me a long time ago and I looked them up online the other day and saw that on Thursday's from 10-11 am they have a Mommy and Me jump time for just $3. So yesterday I left Jack with my mom and Payson and I had some one on one time. Pretty much, I spent an hour sweating and chasing Payson around this warehouse full of trampolines and blow up slides and stuff. But we laughed a lot! Payson had such a good time. It was a great day.

Although, on our way to pick up Jack I got a flat tire. Argh. My Daddy saved me. He postponed his business lunch and came to rescue us. (Yes, I do not know how to change a tire. I am a helpless maiden in need of rescuing when it comes to cars).

Anyway, Dad changed my tire, we picked up Jack who fell asleep in the car on the way home, and then Payson and I shared an ice cream cone on the drive home. Then she snuggled up to me on the couch and we watched Meet the Robinson's, which Payson had borrowed from Grandma, and Payson fell asleep. She's no longer taking naps, so this was a pleasant surprise!!

She is at that magical age where everything she does and says is hilarious! And everything she says and does drives me crazy! She's an angel and a demon wrapped into one, but I couldn't live without her! I'm savoring every sweet moment like yesterday knowing that at some point it will get a lot harder with her. I'm crossing my fingers that we can just skip that, "I hate you" teenage stage. But no matter what happens, she'll always be my baby, the one who made me a mother and gave me a lesson in love that I'll never forget!

So, funny story...

I was on the computer for a minute and had Jack sitting in his exersaucer. He was happily watching Payson play on the floor for a minute. All of the sudden I realized that she was screaming something at him and he was laughing hysterically! So I looked over and Payson was holding a tampon applicator (an unused one, I assure you!) like a microphone screaming "Happy birthday!" and Jack just thought it was the funniest thing! Sadly, by the time I stopped laughing and grabbed the camera Payson saw me and wanted to play with the camera and it wasn't so funny anymore to Jack. I tried to make them re-enact it, but it just wouldn't work! Ah well. Next time I'll be quicker!

Payson's New Do!!

How cute is she?! I think she's absolutely beautiful! Several weeks ago Payson gave herself a pretty...interesting...haircut. I guess she's seen Mommy cut everyone else's and wanted to be just like me! We did our best to blend it, but as it's grown out it's getting more and more noticeable. So tonight we took the plunge! We chopped it up to her chin so that the side she cut blends more like normal layers and those cute little swoopy bangs you're seeing are totally covering up the little stubs of bangs she cut herself. I think it turned out rather beautifully, if I do say so myself! Payson seems pretty pleased with it too. And I think she knows now that ONLY Mommy does haircuts!!

Belated New Year's Resolution

I'm making this official and I'm enlisting your help!! I have not been heavy my whole life. I am not one of those who can say I've struggled since childhood with weight problems. I don't have genes to blame it on. I have no excuses!! Reasons, definitely. Excuses, absolutely not! I totally used Payson as my initial excuse. I was pregnant. I was eating for two! And I definitely did! And then I took my time getting back to normal life after she arrived. Then came Jack. I did MUCH better with Jack. And right after he was born, I did great! I lost every pound I gained with that pregnancy. Granted, nursing helped this time. But then I was still stuck with my post-Payson-pregnancy body. Yuck! After Payson was born I tried LA Weight Loss. But after a couple of weeks of feeling like I was starving to death, I gave up on that one. Before Jack I signed up for Curves and that worked. But fifteen pounds later I was pregnant again and couldn't even drag myself out of bed in the morning to work out. Then after Jack came, I bought some workout dvds. They were really fun and versatile. The workouts included cardio, weight training (they even came with a cute set of pink weights!), kick boxing, salsa dancing, step aerobics, plyometrics, pilates, stretching, all kinds of stuff! I really liked them, even though they kicked my butt! And they came with a suggested eating plan. And I LOVED the meals! I felt like I was getting enough to eat and everything tasted great! And it was food the whole family would eat. Jason loved it and Payson even REQUESTED salads on occasion! And after two weeks I had dropped fifteen pounds! I didn't feel like I was dieting. I honestly felt like I was just changing my lifestyle and living more healthily. So what stopped me, you may ask? Why would I quit something that I enjoyed and that was working so effectively? I DON'T KNOW!! Well, okay. That's not entirely true. When I get stressed or bored or anything I crave crap. I am an emotional eater. If I've had a bad day, I know cheesecake will do the trick! But I'm so tired of it! So I'm vowing here and now to try again...this time, publicly. I am holding myself accountable to you, my blogging friends. I went grocery shopping last night and avoided the frozen foods. I shopped mainly in the produce section! Yea me! So I'm completely prepared to start tomorrow morning. I have all intentions of waking up bright and early and popping in one of my fun dvds and then I will follow up with a day of healthy meals. This will be followed with a lifetime of healthy choices! Now, I do have to admit that I'm nervous. I start every time with these same intentions and motivations. And every time I ultimately give up. The difference this time is that I have an alternative. When I feel stressed or bored or just an unexplained urge to eat crap, I'm turning to you. I hope not to bore everyone to death with my future posts, but I need you all. I need you to frequently ask me how I'm doing. I need your encouragement and support. I'm not hoping to be a twig. I honestly don't even care to get back to my high school size. I just want to be healthy again. I want to be able to feel comfortable around my skinny friends. I want to be able to take my kids to the pool this summer and have a good time rather than worrying if everyone is staring at the beached whale in the shallow end! I want to put Lola on a leash and take her for a jog and not be winded at the end of the driveway! So, please help me! I'll put in most of the work. I'll post my progress every week. I just need you to be my place to run when it gets tough, which it inevitably will. Wish me luck!!

We're on the move!

Jack started scooting in the last couple of days, but I haven't had my camera because Payson broke it. Luckily I had purchased the warranty and they just gave me a new camera! (Although it took them three weeks to realize that it would be cheaper to give me a new camera than to fix mine). But I'm not complaining! I have a new camera! And they no longer make mine so I got a better camera out of the deal. I love warranties!

Anyway, I caught Jack moving on from scooting and getting up on his knees this morning! I'm sure he'll be off and running any day now! I love it! Isn't he the cutest?

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tag! It's my turn!!

I know everyone says they hate tags, and I'm sure one day I will too, but I always read other people's tags and think they're so fun! And I've never been tagged. So now I feel like a cool kid in the popular crowd!! ;) Thanks, Cym!

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves
C. At the end of the post, the player tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they are tagged.

10 years ago I was: Hmmm....14...8th grade, going through those tough junior high years, Jacob Hyrum Nelson was my boyfriend at the time, although we hardly spoke in person (only on the phone; we're still friends), I had a huge crush on Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney, even made a magazine picture collage and hung it on the back of my bedroom door, still the only girl in my family, wouldn't want to go back.

5 things on my to do list today:
1. Take Lola to the Vet for her next set of vaccinations.
2. Do the pile of dishes that mounded up over the weekend from everyone being sick and not wanting to do anything.
3. Pick up the fixed digital camera from Best Buy
4. Straighten up the never ending mess that Payson makes.
5. Read 7 pages, instead of 5, to catch up on the Hinckley Challenge.

Things I would do if I became a billionaire:
Jason and I have this conversation ALL the time!! First, of course, We would pay our tithing! Tithing first, every time!! ;) Then we would pay off any and all debts. We would establish some serious savings: college funds, wedding funds, mission funds, retirement, etc. We would build a house near our family and I would go absolutely crazy decorating!! We would take a MUCH needed vacation! And then, until it was time for us to serve a couple's mission for the church, we decided we would take several trips a year to third world countries and build schools and homes and just make life better for those people. We'd be the new "Brangelina"...Jasenna...Kennason... Yeah, that doesn't work so well, does it?

3 of my bad habits:
1. I leave clothes in the washer and forget about them so by the time I realize I need to put them in the drier I have to re-wash them to get the mildew stain out.
2. I leave my clothes all over the floor of my bedroom. Sometimes the bedroom...Sometimes the bathroom...I've even been known to leave them in the kitchen. (By the way, Jason is dictating my bad habits to me as I type! So sad!)
3. Not too often, but sometimes, when I laugh really hard, I pee a little in my pants (darn post-pregnancy bladder control issues!). The bad habit part of this is that I totally let everyone know when it happens!

5 places I've lived:
1. Several places in Southern California
2. Several places in Utah
3. Rexburg, Idaho
4. Frederick, Maryland
5. And we're about to move to Baltimore, Maryland!!

5 Jobs I've Had:
1. Worthlin Worldwide - Surveys, QA, Jr Project Manager
2. Applebee's. The worst job of my life! Luckily, it was very short lived.
3. Sento, working for Overstock.com in customer Service and Auctions
4. www.10K Plus.com, My dad's website. Free overnight shipping on ink cartridge's anyone?!
5. Mommy! Hardest, most bestest job ever! (Love the grammar, do ya?)

Something most people don't know about me:
Um...I'm trying hard to think of something that most people don't know about me that I don't mind people knowing!! I can't reveal all my secrets!! So, this is totally sick, but I'm sharing it anyway. I am a total closet pimple popper! I literally sit for minutes in front of my mirror every day examining what may or may not evolve into pimples and I pick at them until the point of near facial scarring. It's ridiculous. Stupid habit I picked up from my mom. I really need to quit!!

I tag...
Candis
Jobi
Lynette

The Hinckley Challenge

A few people have asked me about the Hinckley Challenge charts I have on the left of my blog, so for those of you who have not heard about it, let me explain. I have no idea who began the Hinckley Challenge, only that it was a group of members of the church. They say, "President Hinckley often stressed our making the Book of Mormon part of our lives. He was 97 when he passed away, and we would like to celebrate his life and teachings by reading the Book of Mormon in 97 days." When I heard of this I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to show the Lord my gratitude for His servant, President Gordon B. Hinckley, as well as my gratitude for the Book of Mormon, all latter-day prophets, and the gospel in general. So Jason and I are doing this for our personal scripture reading each day. The challenge officially began on February 4th, however when you log on to their website (http://www.hinckleychallenge.com/index.php) you can start anytime and the program even helps you calculate how much you need to read per day to get caught up.

Anyway, I just thought this would be a great opportunity for our family, and maybe for yours as well, to study the scriptures a little harder and to follow the words of our prophets and Heavenly Father a little more closely.

"I take in my hand the Book of Mormon. I read its words. I have read Joseph Smith's explanation of how it came to be. To the unbelieving it is a story difficult to accept, and critics for generations have worn out their lives writing books intended to refute that story and to offer other explanations than the one given by Joseph the Prophet. But to the open-minded, this critical writing has only stimulated them to dig deeper; and the more deeply they dig, the greater the accumulation of evidence for the validity of Joseph Smith's story. Still, as has been demonstrated for a hundred and fifty years, the truth of the Book of Mormon will not be determined by literary analysis or by scientific research, although these continue to be reassuring. The truth about the origins of the Book of Mormon will be determined today and tomorrow, as it has been throughout the yesterdays, by reading the book in a spirit of reverence and respect and prayer." - President Gordon B. Hinckley ( "Praise to the Man," Ensign, Aug. 1983, 4)