Make a Smilebox greeting

Make a Smilebox invite

Halloween, Toddlers, Jobs, and a Good Recipe!

I'm not a creative person, but I'd like to be! I came across a GREAT website called makeitandloveit.blogspot.com. It....is....awesome! Everyone should go check out her website; she has so many cute ideas. It makes me want to sew, but I have no idea how! Anyone want to give me lessons?! Since I'm not creative I didn't dress up as anything for Halloween. Tafton was a cowboy, sorry I didn't take any pictures! His first Halloween trick or treating went great! We went up the street my parents live. Tafton was so shy when they came to the door but he was excited to pick a piece of candy and put it in his bucket. It was really cute! I dressed up Mikaela in Halloween onesie with black pants. I took a ton of pictures of her which you can see!

You can't see her onesie but it says, "snack o lantern"

This isn't the cutest picture but I LOVE how her eyes are big and scared looking staring at the spider.

Okay, how adorable is she?!

I love how huge her smile is in this one!

On a sadder note, Tafton was sick Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with some kind of stomach bug. It was weird though. He would be fine all day and come night time he would throw up. On Saturday Ben asked Tafton to give him a kiss and Tafton looked at him and threw up all down his front. It was gross AND funny. Tafton's been good since then thankfully.

Tafton is definitely a toddler; complete with whining, running around non-stop, and testing us. On Sunday I made him black beans and corn which he loves. I gave it to him and started making a sandwich for me. Out of the corner of my eye I see bugs or something scurrying across the floor and so I turn really fast to see what exactly is going on. Tafton had turned his bowl of corn and beans upside down and dumped it on the floor! Omigoodness that kid! I put him to bed right after that. It's been hard staying patient with him as he experiments with what he can get away with.

Here is what stayed on his tray.....

....and this is what got on the floor. Thanks Tafton!

Exciting for me: I GOT A JOB! A co-worker from Wadman Corporation emailed me about a job opening at Envision Mechanical and so I sent them my resume, interviewed this morning, and I got the job! I'm very excited about it. It's a part time position, three days a week from 8 to 5. So I still get to stay at home with my kids most of the week and bring in a little money. The hard thing now will be finding sitters because we'll be able to pay our bills now but still nothing extra. and childcare unfortunately falls in the extra. In anyone wants a challenge I have two kids that need to be watched Tuesdays thru Thursday. Any takers? Anyway, I start next week and I'm excited to get back into construction, it's a very challenging and fun industry to be in.

Lastly, I'm always on the lookout for recipes that are yummy, easy, and cheap. This recipe I found on the Betty Crocker website met all three requirements:

Mac 'n Cheese Shells with Sausage

3 cups chicken broth 1 1/2 cups frozen peas

2 cups uncooked small pasta shells 2 cups shredded American-Cheddar cheese

1/2 lb smoked sausage, cut in half lengthwise, then cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1. In 3-quart saucepan, heat broth to boiling over medium-high heat. Add pasta shells; heat to boiling. Boil 6 minutes; do not drain. Reduce heat. Stir in peas and sausage. Cover; simmer 3 to 5 minutes or until shells are tender remove from heat and drain most of remaining chicken broth.

2. Add shredded cheese; toss gently until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese if desired.

Everyone really liked it, it was super easy to make, and didn't take a lot of time. Bonus! it was also good as a leftover. If you have any easy and delicious recipes please send them my way!

Here are a couple other random pics.

Tafton likes to build with his blocks. This is a tower he built with Ben's help.

Aunt Lorraine and Mikaela

Mikaela's Announcement

Two Month Update

Mikaela is now two months old! It is nuts that it's already been two months of two kids! Tafton still really likes her as you'll see in our pictures! and we like her too! She is so cute, I LOVE to see her smile and make little cooing sounds. She still gets called a boy by strangers but let's face it, all babies look like boys! Enjoy the pics!

HOW CUTE IS SHE?!?! Omigoodness in love with this picture!

I was trying so hard to get her to smile, I think this is the closest pic that I actually like.

Daddy and Mikaela

Tafton. Looking cool. Eating a chip.

Sarina was talking to Mikaela and getting her to smile and coo.

Tafton sees Sarina is interested in Mikaela.

Tafton leans in to see what all the fuss is about. I thought it was very cute that Tafton got interested because Sarina was giving her attention to Mikaela.

We sold our stroller because we need the money and with two kids we really need a double stroller. We were given one which was great but when I took it out I noticed one of the wheels was barely hanging on and it pulled to the left and it must have been made for a short person because I felt like I really had to stoop. Anyway, Tafton really wanted to get in the stroller but I told him no and his face is the result of my saying no. Is it bad that I think his screaming face is cute?

Ben, Johnny, and Mikaela taking a nap. I thought they looked cute in their white clothes.

Tafton eating a banana. No story here I just think he looks cute.

Tafton loves to share. He is sharing his cheerios with Mikaela.

I don't think she likes it!!

Those are our pictures from the last week! Hope you enjoyed them! On a side note, I got a 98% on my mid-term, YAY! I've also gone through the classes I need to take to finish my degree and if I take three classes each semester I can have my degree the end of Fall Semester 2010. A whole year earlier than I was thinking, pretty exciting!

Cleaning Tips

Being a Mom of two, doing homework, shopping for groceries, making meals, cleaning the house! Ack! I desperately try to keep the house clean since we're selling our home but with life pulling me in every direction it gets hard! To correct this I keep an ear open for quick cleaning tips. Yesterday on Studio 5 they had a segment on quick cleaning, clean your whole house in 30 minutes!

I'm going to try this out and hopefully our house will stay clean and I'll stay sane! What do you do to keep your home clean?

We've had fun this week! Nothing new just the same old routine. School for me, school for Ben, work for Ben, and fun & stress with the kids every day! Tafton is still way cute, way loud, and getting closer to those terrible twos. He'll be able to go to nursery starting in November and I'm so excited! I think it'll be good for him to be around other little kids. We went over to my cousin Nanette's house on Thursday and Tafton was standoffish at first. I think because he's mostly at home with me and Mikaela he doesn't know how to act when he meets new people. We had a lot of fun over at Nanette's, thanks for having us!

Mikaela is getting cuter and fatter everyday! I think she's on track to be as big as Tafton was. At two months Tafton was twelve pounds and Mikaela is eleven pounds. She seems to have a really strong neck and has been much more alert and is smiling every once in awhile, I love it! A couple of nights this last week she's slept eight to nine hours at once! Very nice!

Here are some pictures from the last week:

An old shot of Tafton. Look how chubby his face is! I think he's thinned out since he started walking but he's still a big boy!

Yes. That is my bra around Tafton's neck. He first tried to put it on his head like a hat but this is how it ended up. Later, he was trying to take it off but his arm had gone through the strap and so he was stuck. He was turning in a circle~like a dog chasing it's tail~trying to get out of it. I was laughing so hard as I helped him out.

Me and Mikaela

The three of us. I was really proud of myself for getting this shot.

When Tafton gets worked up he likes to run back and forth on the couch which is what he is doing here.

A shot of Mikaela smiling. See? Doesn't her stomach look huge? She's getting big!

Okay this is a picture of Tafton with one of my nursing pads on his head. He thinks it's a hat. I think it looks like a yarmulke.

Here's another shot of Mikela smiling. Isn't she cute?! Thanks Valerey for the cute outfit!

Another old shot of Tafton just before his birthday.

Mikaela is One Month

Mikaela is just over one month now and I wanted to post a picture of her when she was just born and some from now to see how much {or how little} she's changed.

Day 1. Sleeping with Daddy. Can't really see much of her in this photo and unfortunately what they say about your second baby is true! We really haven't taken a lot of pictures of her.

One Month. Having some "tummy time." Doesn't she look cute?! Thanks Kristen for the cute onesies! Yesterday she rolled over twice during her tummy time. It was pretty exciting but she probably won't be really rolling over for awhile yet.

Here's a straight on shot. She has definitely lost her newborn looks and is getting much chubbier. I think she looks A LOT like Tafton did at one month. I think it's easy to tell Tafton and Mikaela are siblings, they have the same nose.

Couldn't post without a picture of Tafton. Here he is in his cowboy hat {thank you Charissa!}. He's never been big on wearing hats, he pulls them off as soon as you put them on. This last week though he's been wanting to wear his cowboy hat every day. I think we're going to dress him up as a cowboy for Halloween. I've been teaching him to say "Trick or Treat!" but it comes up like "duh da duh dun" but maybe it'll sound closer by Halloween!

Baby Weight

I love junk food{understatement!}. I can buy a bag of peanut butter cups and eat all of them and want more! I also am addicted to cherry coke. I hadn't had any soda for over a month and one day I was really stressed from taking care of both kids that I broke down and got one. For the next three days all I could think about was having more cherry coke! I got another one and haven't looked back since.

I want to lose the baby weight and get back in running shape BUT I can't exercise any self control over the junk food. So how am I going to get rid of the dreaded pregnancy muffin top??

When I was pregnant Ben and I talked about getting into shape after I had Mikaela. Mikaela is a month old now and I'm clear for exercise so it's time for us to start working. I'm worried about a couple things though. One thing that worries me is that I'm breastfeeding and I want to continue to breastfeed at least until Mikaela gets teeth {we'll see if she can behave herself}. I don't want to exercise too hard or much and risk losing my milk. Another obstacle is lack of sleep. I keep saying to myself I'm going to get up at seven and work out before the kids wake up. But every morning I hit that snooze until eight and then it's time to feed Mikaela and Tafton wakes up! And then there is just finding the time to exercise! I'm taking a couple of classes, Ben is in school and working, and the two kids; it just seems hard to find the time to exercise because the only time available is when Tafton sleeps and he is a one-nap-a-day kid now.

I'm sorry if this sounds like a list of reasons why I'm always going to have the baby weight. I really REALLY want to lose the baby pooch but I just feel like there is a lot of things standing in my way. I'm going to really work on eating well and exercising this week. Maybe I could start a biggest loser thing and do it with other people. I think the competition of it and having other people holding me accountable might help. Anyone interested in that? Maybe I'll start posting my weight loss stats on here, that would be incentive to lose weight! If anyone has tips on weight loss or healthy eating send them my way, and if anyone wants to work out with me that'd be awesome! I can go to Weber State's gym for free, we'd just have to do it around Mikaela's eating schedule and find someone to watch Tafton. I know a lot of you have kids, how did you lose the baby weight and balance everything else going on in your life?

Some Baby Pictures

Okay, I told you guys I wouldn't be posting as much because with two kids under two? yikes! I have a hard enough time getting a shower in! Anyway, here are some pictures for you people at the hospital (and everyone else too!) Enjoy!

Tafton really likes Mikaela. He loves to tickle her toes and give her kisses. He doesn't like that he gets less attention. He's been throwing a lot more tantrums.

Mikaela basically sleeps all day. It's nice especially when I think about how it's going to be when both kids are awake all day!

Tafton loves splashing in the bath. It's so funny and SO messy!

We went up to the cabin on Labor Day. Tafton looked adorable sitting on the log.

Tafton and his cousin Aiden playing with trucks wearing their cabin clothes. They look so outdoorsy and manly!

Sorry these pictures are kinda backwards, chronologically. This is Tafton holding Mikaela in the hospital. He's petting her head.

Mommy and Mikaela...

...and Daddy and Mikaela. Ben is doing his classic one hand holding the baby. Our sister-in-law Sarina wrapped her so tight she looks like a little football.

We're all doing well and enjoying our time together before Ben has to go back to work. He only has one more week off! Hopefully I'll be able to handle both the kids without him!

Oh! and if anyone wants to get Mikaela little hair things so everyone knows she is in fact A GIRL, that'd be great! and I'm going to try and post more often but no promises!