Steven's Birthday Party

This year, Steven's birthday fell on a Wednesday, so I could have had his birthday party either the weekend before or after. We decided to do it the weekend before because his cousin's birthday was the following weekend and they wanted to do her party the weekend after Steven's birthday.
This year, because Steven was turning 5, I decided to have Steven's first "friend" party. Because most of his friends are his cousins (love it!), and also because I do not really have the room to have both sides of the family over for parties, I just combined everything into one party. I also thought it would be easiest to just have the party at a park to accommodate all of the people who were going to be there. When I started to research renting a pavilion at a park, I found out that if you rent a Salt Lake County park, it's $75 for the whole day. Whaaattt? Too expensive for my taste. However, you can rent a Sandy City Park for only $25 for a half-day. Much better. Because my mother-in-law is a resident of Sandy, and because she's awesome, I was able to rent a Sandy City pavilion and we had the park there. It worked out pretty well in the end, because a lot of the guests live in Sandy.
I decided not to do a theme because with everything else that was going during the summer (having a baby in July, my brother's wedding in August), I didn't plan ahead very well and kind of threw things together fairly last-minute. I did, however, do 5 activities in honor of Steven turning 5, and we had goodie bags with some of Steven's favorite things in them.
I didn't get pictures of everything because I was pretty busy with the actual party stuff and trying to be a nice host. Oh, and then, my camera ran out of memory so I couldn't get any pictures at the end. *Note to self: have someone else be in charge of pictures, and make sure there's enough memory for pictures!*
*Side note: I took some inspiration for the party from my friend, Arika, and the party she threw for her daughter when she turned 5. It was a great party, and really well thought-out and put together.*
First I had the kids decorate goodie bags with their names and stickers and stuff. At Sofia's 3rd birthday party, we had a pinata, but we forgot to put names on them, so it got a little confusing. Then I had them start with the games.
The first game was "Duck, Duck, Zombie". My kids came home from the gym daycare and said that they had played it at the gym that day and they loved it. It's basically just "Duck, Duck, Goose", but I guess you're supposed to act like a zombie while you're chasing people. Everyone thought it was funny to call it that, but they had a good time.

My niece, Anna, being chased by Sofia. Pretty good action shot :)

Darren

Sofia is "it"

I think Arianna just caught Sofia

Anna running

Steven's "it"

Zamara just got picked by Lothair. Love this picture

Mandy

Mandy catching Darren

Steven running

After "Duck, duck, Zombie", we played "Pin the tail on the Red Bird". Angry Birds is also a favorite of Steven's. Notice the shirt he was wearing that day ;)

Anna

Lothair

Sofia

After that, I sent them on a little treasure hunt. (Sorry, no pictures.) At the end of the treasure hunt, they found a pinata. 

Adam

 Aiden

 Arianna

 Darren

 Janie

Sofia

 I love how intense Sofia gets while hitting a pinata...

All-in-all, I think the party was a success. I think the kids had fun, Steven did for sure, and he was excited by all the great gifts he got. The timing worked out great, too, because It started to rain (and not just drizzle, but rain hard) right as we were wrapping up. 

Steven as we're getting ready to leave. He got that birthday crown at pre-school, and wore it a lot during that week.

Playing with the awesome Iron Patriot (from Iron Man 3) toy that Grandma got him

Playing with the Mario figurines also from grandma

Well...

Well...
It's been a month. At times, a very frustrating month. In my previous post, I had set a weight-loss goal. My ultimate goal, by November 1st, is to have lost 15 lbs. My goal for October 1st was to be able to fit into my favorite pair of jeans again.
Well...
I did not reach my first goal. Technically, I can put those jeans on, but they certainly do not fit. They are still too tight, so I will save you from seeing that ;) As of October 1st, I have lost a grand total of ONE pound. That's right, only ONE pound in almost a month. As you may guess, I'm not too excited about that. And it's not for lack of trying. Ever since I wrote that "Goals" post, I have been working out for at least an hour, 3-5 times a week. I have been trying to watch what I eat, and have been following the same Weight Watchers plan as I have in the past, the same plan that I've had success with. I will be the first to admit, I haven't been perfect, but for the most part, I have been really trying to stay within my points most days of the week. The last 10 days - 2 weeks, I've been really good at staying within my points every day except for one or two "cheat" days. Still, nothing. I don't know what the deal is. I know I just had my 4th pregnancy, and I guess people say that it's harder to lose the weight after each pregnancy. Maybe that's true, maybe that's an excuse, I don't know. Maybe I'm deluding myself into thinking I'm doing better than I am. The only thing I can think of, besides the fact that maybe I'm not doing as well as I think I am, is maybe it has something to do with my birth control. I've never had a weight gaining problem with any birth control that I've been on before, at least not one that I've noticed. I went on a new birth control in the middle of August, and around that time is when I started gaining weight. At that same time, I also stopped pumping, and at first, I was not watching what I was eating.  However, I've changed my eating habits significantly since then, and still haven't been able to lose the weight, so I don't think it's the pumping thing. I am going to switch birth controls next week and we'll see if that makes a difference. I really hope it does, because part of me is even more discouraged than I was last month. It's been hard on me when I feel like I'm making all these changes, but I don't see any results. That same part is even less motivated because I want to start trying to get pregnant soon, so I think, "What's the point?" The other part of me is more determined to lose the weight, and I really do want to lose some weight before I get pregnant. I guess all I can do is keep plugging along.
The TEENY silver lining in all this, is that even though I have only lost ONE pound, I have lost a little bit in my measurements. Since September 15th, I've lost almost 1/4 inch in my waist, 1/2 inch around my "stomach" (where my biggest pooch is), almost 1/2 inch around my hips, and almost 1/2 inch around my thighs. It does help to see that there has been a little change.
                   

September 9th

October 1st

Goals

Me & my friend, Meghann, almost exactly a year ago before participating in the Dirty Dash

Me & my friend Amanda in NYC (the same weekend as the above picture)

Amanda & I at the 9/11 Memorial (man, I look good ;) )

Me now

I don't love sharing "before" pictures without an "after" to follow, but I'm hoping that blogging about this will help motivate me. In the pictures from last year, I am about 22 lbs lighter than I am now. In my defense, I did just deliver another baby in July. (I think nearly everyone who reads this blog knows that I was a surrogate again, but if you didn't and would like to read about that most recent journey, leave me a comment & I'll add you to my private surrogacy blog.) I lost all of the baby weight very quickly, but haven't lost any more, and I actually started out the pregnancy about 15 lbs heavier than I was in the first pictures (vacations, breaks from working out, and the hormones I had to take before getting pregnant all played a big roll in gaining that much weight before I got pregnant). In fact, I've actually GAINED about 5-6 lbs in the past 4-6 weeks. This is what I find so frustrating about my body: when I am pregnant, I eat whatever I want and still have a hard time gaining weight - I gained no more than 20 lbs during this most recent pregnancy. But then when I am not pregnant, I gain 5+ lbs in a matter of weeks. Not cool. After my last pregnancy (I also delivered a surrogate baby in February 2012), I lost all the baby weight quickly, lost a few more pounds, plateaued, and then finally about 6 months after I delivered, was able to get past that plateau and reach my goal. However, during that pregnancy, I continued working out until I was 34 weeks. During this most recent pregnancy, I stopped working out pretty early on because it was causing me to cramp and that is not a good thing. So for several months, I was not working out and I was eating more sweets and treats than I normally would. It's been hard for me to stop that habit and so I know that's why I've gained some weight instead of losing some. Plus, I would like to start trying to have my own baby at the beginning of the year, so part (okay, a lot) of me thinks, "What's the point of trying to lose weight if I'm just going to get pregnant again?" Yeah, not feeling so motivated. Again, that's why I'm blogging about it, so hopefully it'll help me keep more motivated. *Side note: I know I just delivered 2 months ago, and I should give myself some slack. I do realize that I look pretty good for just delivering a baby, but I can't use that as an excuse forever. Plus, I'm not carrying a baby around with me, so people who don't know me don't know I just delivered a baby and just think I'm chubby. Not that I should care what strangers think, but you know what I mean.*

Here are the three goals that I am currently working towards:

1. I want to be able to fit in the jeans in the first pictures by October 1st. (Those are my favorite jeans!)

2. I would like to lose (at least) 15 lbs by November 1st.

3. I would like to keep that weight off, or continue losing weight, until I get pregnant again.

I will try to post my progress on here as I go along. Wish me luck!

Steven Starts Preschool!

*I am going to try to start blogging again & I thought it would just be easier to start with current events & then add in other stuff if I have time or the inclination.*
Wow, where did the summer go? It is already September? I hate when summer ends, but we had a pretty great summer, and I do love Fall, so it's not all bad. With the start of September this year, Steven also started preschool! Part of me does not feel like this came out of nowhere, because he turns 5 next week, but I also don't want him to grow up so fast!
Because of when Steven's birthday falls, he will be almost 6 when Kindergarten starts. We probably could have tried to get him to start this year, but we liked the idea of him being one of the older ones in his class. That also means he could have started preschool last year, or possibly even the year before that, but I didn't want him to do more than one year of preschool. Some of our neighbors told us about the preschool they sent their daughter to last year and it sounded like it would work for us, too. We met with his teacher in July  and Steven got so excited. He would tell everyone he met that he was starting preschool and that he had already met his teacher. The preschool we're sending him to is a little bit different than traditional preschools. It's actually called a Joy School they focus mostly on teaching kids about the joy in things and how to find the joy in things (the joy of obedience, the joy of the body, the joy of the Earth, etc.), but they also teach pre-academic things as well. So far we like the philosophy & think it will work well for Steven.
The last few weeks of August, and especially last week, were very busy for us. My brother got married last week and so I was really focused on that & also Steven's birthday that's coming up, and didn't really have anything special planned for the first day of school. I think traditions are fun & important, but I just didn't have time to do much. However, I tried to let Steven know that starting school is a special day and tried to make it a little special.

For breakfast I made pancakes and let Steven decide what color to make them (colored pancakes are a pretty standard tradition for special days in our house). He chose purple, but you can't really tell in these pictures. Steven has gotten into the cheesy/forced smile stage.

This one's not too bad. He looks REALLY excited with those huge eyes, though! ;)

 

Yummy pancakes!

Sofia following her cheesy brother's example 

More natural

I didn't have time to make a sign or have Steven pose in a better lit place (for those of you who know me, know I'm usually late, especially in the morning). I tried to get him to smile before we went inside, but I think it was a little too bright.

Right when all the kids get to the preschool, the teacher has some activity out for them to do while they wait for all the kids to arrive. They were loving the playdoh! Sofia was glad she got to join in, too.

Sofia at the start of our first Mommy/Sofia time. She's sad she's not starting preschool, too, but like I said above, I didn't want either of my kids to do two years of school. 

After we picked Steven up from school, we went to McDonald's for lunch as a treat. I let Steven pick & I think he chose here because he wanted to play at the play place. 

Sofia loves chocolate milk!

I actually caught a fairly decent picture in between playing. 

For dinner we had one of Steven's favorite meals: scones (a.k.a. fried bread). I don't have a picture from that because I had a meeting that night, but Steven loved it. :)

Hopefully now I will be a *little* bit better at posting more consistently! ;)

The End of the Cruise

Our last full day on the ship was spent at sea. It was nice to be able to sleep in & relax, but we were all a little sad that our trip was coming to an end. 

Our last little towel animal

I don't remember what exactly we did on our last day, but nothing too crazy. I think we just hung out, played some shuffleboard (for real), and went to some of the activities that were going on around the ship. Oh, and Tyler & Josh took full advantage of the pizza bar one last time.
That night Josh & I had reservations for one of the specialty restaurants on the ship. We had made all of those reservations before we got on board, before we knew what the other food on the ship would be like. We could have cancelled the reservation, but we had to do it more than 24 hours in advance, and by the time we got back from Cozumel and got showered, it was too late to do it. We still could have not gone, but they would have charged us the full price per person if we hadn't gone. It was an Italian place and it was okay, but not great. We would've preferred to eat in the main "casual" dining room. Now we know that the next time we go on a cruise, we should check out all the free dining rooms before paying extra for a specialty one.

After dinner we met up with Tyler & Armyn and went to some of the shows and then did some last-minute exploring. 

Josh & I in front of one of the big Christmas trees on the ship

Tyler & Armyn

Cool blue tree

The next day was Sunday and the day we had to get off the ship. We finished our last minute packing and then went and got some breakfast at the buffet (I think it was the only thing open). After breakfast we said goodbye to the ship and went through customs. When we were done with that, we called the same guy who had driven us to the port from our hotel and had him take us to the airport. The ship is supposed to dock at 8 am, but we didn't want to risk missing our flight, and ships aren't always on time, so we booked a later flight that didn't leave until 2 or 3 pm. There was an 11 am flight that we actually would have had plenty of time to make and we thought about trying to get on that one, but we would have had to pay the difference in the ticket prices, and it wasn't worth it. My brother & his family were living in Florida at the time and were actually fairly close to Tampa that weekend. I knew we had a long wait, so they met us at the airport so we could hang out for a bit. We had originally planned on all of us (Tyler & Armyn included) going to the beach, but then my sister-in-law didn't know the beaches near there and didn't know if there would be showers there so we could clean off before our flight, so we decided to skip the beach and go to a park instead. Then, when we got to the airport, they told us we couldn't check our bags more than 4 hours before the flight  so we had to keep our bags with us. Because of that, there wasn't enough room in my brother's car for all 8 of us plus all of our bags, so Tyler & Armyn stayed at the airport. 

It was really nice being able to see my brother & his family, even though it was way too short.

Josh, me, Ethan, Emily, Dave & Mary

After we were able to hang out for a little bit, they took us back to the airport. We checked our bags and went to hang out near our gate. There was a Chile's there (the airport version with a smaller menu & faster service) that we thought about eating at, but we didn't think we'd have enough time. We bought some other food that was, of course, outrageously expensive, and waited for our flight. Tyler & Armyn joined us later (they had been wandering somewhere else) for a little bit before our flight left. They had a later flight and had to wait a bit more. 

The flights were fine, just kind of boring and a bit long. We only had one layover, so it wasn't too bad. We got into Salt Lake at about 10 PM local time. There was a little bit of snow on the ground at the airport, but as we drove further south to pick up our kids, the snow on the ground increased dramatically. The kids were asleep when we picked them up and I don't think they really knew what was going on. When we got home and put them to bed, though, I gave Sofia a hug and she kind of woke up and said, "Mommy!" in a very sleepy but excited voice. It was so sweet!

It was so nice to be back with our kids & home in our bed, but it was a little sad to not be on vacation anymore and to come home to snow.  I definitely would love to do another cruise some day, hopefully sooner than later. I would also like to take my kids on one, too, but I don't think that will be any time soon. The next time I go on a cruise, I would like to spend a little bit more and go on a slightly nicer one. I would love to go on one for my 30th birthday, which is in 2 1/2 years, so hopefully we can make that work!