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?