Working Out

This is somewhat of a follow-up to one of my earlier posts about weight lost/getting healthy.  I haven't done very well with my goal so far, I'm embarrassed to admit.  Part of that is simple lack of desire to work out.  I get bored with the same workout pretty easily.  Another big factor, of course, is time.  In my current situation, as with most of you out there, I have a limited amount of time during which to work out.  For me it's very early in the morning (around 5 am because Sofia gets up around 6 to eat) or late at night (after 10 when Sofia's gone to bed).  Some days I have some overlap of naptime...an hour if I'm lucky.  I'm pretty good at coming up with excuses to not use those times to work out (tired, other things that are more pressing, etc.).  Another thing that make it a little more difficult to be motivated & just doing it is what I like to call, "lack of equipment".  I have some workout videos & some free weights.  I also have outside.  And there is a workout room in our clubhouse where we live.  I've used that facility a few times but the major problem with that is their hours.  It is only available to use from 2-7 every day.  Yeah, ridiculous, I know.  Even on the days when I am around to work out during those times, Josh is usually not home & therefore I can't take advantage of that without leaving my kids in the house.  Alone.  Right. 
So because of all that...the inconviences of having kids & trying to work out, I'm missing my old gym membership.  I did not like having to pay the membership fee every month & I did not like having a contract.  But there's a lot to be said for the variety of the machines, the classes, & the pool.  You can also pay a little extra to have the benefit of daycare.  That is the biggest obstacle for me & working out: what to do with my kids.  I'm definitely considering getting another membership but I am hestitant about the extra money going out every month.
A few people have asked why I don't get a treadmill for my condo.  I would definitely love one but I always thought that would be something I would get when we have a bigger place.  If/when I have a treadmill at my house, I will want to be able to watch TV or movies while I work out.  That's the best way for me to do it.  And while technically we have the space for a folding treadmill right now, it would be somewhat inconvienent.  There's not really room for it where our TV is so if I wanted to watch TV while I worked out, I'd have to move it into & out of the living room every time I work out.  And honestly, if I worked out in a room where there wasn't a TV, I would probably not work out very often.  Some may say that's silly & I should just do it anyway, I'm just stating the facts.  I know myself & I know that if I will get bored during a workout, I'm going to stop doing it.
I would like peoples' opinions on this.  Just continue to do what I'm doing (what little of it I'm doing)...work out with videos & at the clubhouse when I can; join a gym so I can go whenever, even when the kids aren't sleeping; or maybe even buy a treadmill for my house?  Also, if anyone knows anyone who is trying to sell a gym membership or treadmill, let me know that too.  Thanks! :)

Who's Who?

So I had the idea of taking a picture of Sofia that was similar to one I had of Steven & then comparing the two.  I haven't sat down to study any of Steven's pictures & try to replicate it exactly...these two are just pictures that happen to be pretty similiar.  I'd love to see how people do with their guesses!

Baby A

Baby B

                      

Chalk One Up for Wal-mart

I will be the first to admit that I am a bit of a Target snob.  I don't know where this preference for Target started...but it was probably my Mom.  There are actual reasons why I prefer Target over Wal-mart.  Target is generally cleaner & more well-organized.  Also, I know from first-hand experience (working at Target as a cashier) that they are very keen on keeping the check-out times short.  In my experience, I usually have to wait a while to check out at Wal-mart.  Everyone always says Wal-mart is the cheapest but honestly, I've found that Target has very comparable prices, even for groceries.  (I'm weird & remember stuff like exact prices & I would compare things at both places.)  Needless to say, I generally shop at Target when given the choice.
These days, however, the nearest Super Target (with groceries) is about 10 minutes away on the freeway, whereas there is a Wal-mart just down the street.  It's a newer Wal-mart & is pretty nice.  One great thing about Wal-mart is that they do price-matching.  If you bring in a competor's ad & buy an idential item, they will give you the price on the ad.  This has come in very handy this summer, especially when buying produce.  I love this feature & these days end up shopping almost exclusively at Wal-mart.  I still prefer some other markets because they offer more variety as far as groceries go or sell some products exclusive to that store.
I found out recently that Target does price-matching as well.  I was pretty excited about this because the one thing that I thought was better about Wal-mart also was available at Target.  The other day I was near a Super Target so I decided to get some things with price-matching.   I was not impressed.  I discovered that in order to do a price-match, you have to go to Customer Service after you've already paid for the rest of your purchase (at Wal-mart they do it at the register).  Also, at Customer Service, they do not have scales so they can't weigh your produce.  If you want to price-match produce, you have to have the cashier weigh your produce & then you have to take it to Customer Service & tell them how much it weighs before they will price-match it.  Normally I only price-match produce but fortunately that day I only had one produce item so I just left it & got it somewhere else.  I was not very happy with this & definitely will only price-match at Wal-mart from now on.  I hate admitting it, but Wal-mart's growing on me... ;)

Random Rant

This is very random, but I'm feeling pretty strongly about it today.  For a while I was fairly loyal to one brand of mascara.  I either bought Covergirl (the green & pink tube) or Maybelline Full N Soft (my fav!).  Lately, though, I've just been going for cheap & so I've ended up buying Rimmel.  The first two kinds I bought were okay but not really all that great.  This last one I bought, though, I really do not like.  It's called Volume Flash Mousse or something & I find it really annoying!  It does have a mousse-like consistency but that actually turns out to be a bad thing.  Huge clumps end up on the brush, especially if it's warm out.  I hate that!  And I really haven't noticed any volume or anything special about it.  I got it very cheap & I can definitely see why.  I would highly recommend Maybelline's Full N Soft.  I really liked it & it did NOT clump together.  I will definitely be spending the extra dollar or so for the mascara I know I like.  Rant over.

Sofia's Blessing

These are pictures that my sister-in-law, Mary, helped me take of Sofia in her blessing gown.  My mother-in-law got this for me & I love it!  It's absolutely gorgeous.  Enjoy :)

I love that she's sticking out her tongue in this one! :-p

I love that Mary captured one of the first times Sofia smiled at me

I really like the colored effect I was able to get on this one

I love her face in this one!

Big eyes!

The dress by itself. Gorgeous!

June Twenty-Ten

So it's been a while since I've really blogged so I thought I would just do a quick recap of month of June.
-My best friend had a birthday so we got pedicures & ate at a new pizza/pasta/salad buffet place in Provo called Pizza Pie Cafe.  It's really good!  Go eat there! :) We also went and saw "The Back-Up Plan".  That was pretty good...definitely worth the dollar movie!
-My sister and her family came through Utah on their way to Yellowstone & stayed with my other sister for a few days.  I don't see her or her family very often but this year I will see her at least 3 times - and all within 3 months!
-Sofia "turned" 2 months on the 28th.  She's starting to be so fun :)
-Josh & I attempted to take Steven & Sofia to the zoo with my sisters & their kids.  I say attempted because when we went out to the carport to leave, my car was gone.
-My car was stolen!  Just chalk that up with the other 4 times that my car has been broken into...two of which times the radio was stolen.  It was stolen sometime between Monday evening and early Tuesday morning.  We called the cops & the fine detectives of the Taylorsville Police Department found it on Wendesday evening.  Hooray!  And even better, the only thing that was taken was Steven's carseat.  It sucked having to replace it but at least nothing was wrong & no parts were missing.  Thank goodness!
-I took Steven swimming for the first time this year & he really liked it.  He hates getting his face wet when he takes a shower but for whatever reason, he just wanted to stand on the steps of the pool & then step off into the water.  When he did this, of course he got tons of water on his face, in his nose & in his mouth.  But he kept doing it.  What a weirdo!
-Josh was told he wasn't going to Missouri for a job, then he was & he'd be gone for 2+ months, and now he's not going again.  The life of a wife of a landscaper...The only thing I hate about his job is not knowing what his schedule will be, even from week to week.  I like to plan.
-We celebrated Father's Day at my in-law's new house.  We had yummy steak & amazing fruit & played in their awesomely big backyard.  The weekend of Father's Day, I made Josh one of his favorite meals, got him some of his favorite soda (ICB Black Cherry - yum!) & a new stainless steel water bottle.
-Josh really liked said water bottle because it kept the water really cold throughout the day.
-Josh broke said water bottle by freezing it overnight.  Apparently steel doesn't like to expand without cracking along with the expanding frozen water...
-Sofia had her baby blessing done at our church & then my sister-in-law helped me take some awesome pictures with her in her blessing gown.  Pictures to follow.
-I lost all of my pregnancy weight and then some!  Yay!
-My best friend & I went to see the midnight premiere of Eclipse.  Our seats were a little close but it was a lot of fun!  I actually like going to movies like that on opening night because I get more into the mood of it when there are a bunch of teenage girls squealing all around me. 
-I started doing Josh's P90X workout DVD's.  They are pretty tough!  There's only certain times that I can realistically work out...and none of those times are exactly desirable (i.e. 5 am or 10 pm...) so I haven't been keeping up with it very well.  Hopefully soon I'll have time to do a full week of workouts!
-We had a bunch of BBQ's at my sister's new place.  She has a great backyard that is perfect for entertaining.  Thanks, Ginelle, for letting us invade you so often!

I'm sure there are other significant things that happened this month but since I can't remember them, they won't get posted! :)

2 months!

Sofia is already 2 months old!  It's hard to believe.  She's such a beautiful little baby :)  She's a little harder than Steven in some ways, but that's pretty easy to do because Steven was practically an angel at this age.  She's somewhat of a light sleeper, meaning she'll fall asleep when you're holding her but will wake up when you put her down and have a hard time falling back asleep.  She is doing a lot better with that, though.  She's sleeping through the night (usually from 10-5 or later) which is such a blessing!  She also sleeps for 3-4 hours between feeding, which is great also.  I feel very blessed :)  She is 10 lbs and 23.5 iches.  She's fairly small but healthy. 

Here are some recent pictures.  They are chronologically out of order but you get the idea.

Sofia's hair growth is somewhat like a balding man's: lots of hair in the back and on the sides, not so muc hin the front.  It's kind of hard to see that here, but the little hair sticking up is at the back of her head.

Last week she was awake and super happy so I grabbed my camera.  Fortunately she was happy and smiling for a while so I got some great shots. :)

My brother and sister-in-law helped me do a baby photo shoot with Sofia.  These are pretty old...she was about 3 weeks in these.