christmas lights---> temple square 2010

Everyone in Utah goes to see the lights on Temple square before Christmas... I LOVE it. We could have stayed all night talking pictures. In fact, it was December 2004, when Dan and I were seeing the lights that we had become offically engaged. :)

My favorite part was seeing all of the nativities from around the world. It inspired me to want to start collecting them for my home! Wouldn't that be a fun tradition? *hint for dan...

new shoes & studio

Yesterday we spontaniously went to the Nike Store and bought the boys some new shoes. It was a blast! Easton actually needed a pair of new shoes, and poor Nixon will never actually "need" a new piece of anything ever, because he is exactly the same size/season for his age as Easton was... the poor kid will have live with the hand-me-down's. At least most of the time.

Easton- shoe size 10                                   Nixon- shoe size 4



2011 & resolutions

As the begining of a new year opens, I am happy to share that I have achieved my goal for 2010 to loose the baby weight. I am not writing this to boast... because I know that this is only temporary. Age, and the hope of being pregnant again someday will change my appearance and I'm okay with that. That is how life goes. I am writing because how many times in a girl's life can she say that she is actually at her "happy weight"? (not that I couldn't stand to go to the gym to tone up, which should be my goal for 2011) That in and of itself is worth a small pat on the back, right? I also wanted to share with everyone what worked well for me. I wont go too much on a soapbox, because I could go on and on about it... I started with weight watchers, and even though I didn't stick with it I really believe that it helped me get a good base and to really pay attention to everything that I ate (and am eating). The key to really helping me to loose the extra weight (I lost 14 lbs total) is going off of dairy completely. I have been working at going dairy free for 3 years now. I started with milk, my family drinks rice, almond and coconut milk now. That was the easiest switch and I haven't looked back since. It was just that for about a year, mostly to get Dan and our budget adjusted, I then switched to a dairy-free butter, and stopped buying yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream... which wasn't too bad either. The killer- was and still is: CHEESE and the "hidden" milk in pretty much everything processed. I can't lie and say that I didn't cheat over the holidays, because I did. But that is also how life goes, and I plan to cheat every once in a while. But I now feel sick to my stomach everytime I do...

Here is a link that is helpful for anyone wanting to try it out.

 http://www.godairyfree.org/

What do you do with your picky eater?

Nixon is his very own person, and anyone that knows Easton also knows that I have NO experience in the "picky eater" category... these pictures were taken before he would even take a bite to TRY it, everything is automatically assumed yucky.  He is also loosing weight, because he really wont eat until he is absolutely starving... which is also effecting my sleep.

Things Nixon will eat everytime:

bread

bananas

and anything that I don't approve of him eating.

:merry christmas:

:Baby Nixon's Birthday:

Nixon turned 1 on November 15th! I seriously cannot believe that he is already one. This past year has gone by so fast, but he has been such a blessing in our family! The day was pretty low key, I guess that is what happens when you are the second child? Even though we didn't throw a big party, the day didn't go by unnoticed. We had a special dinner that Nixon could be included in on- grilled chicken, rice & steamed veggies! Then we opened a few gifts, and had yummy muffins for dessert.

His birthday was just a few days before his eye surgery (and his first haircut)...

 The favorite gift was (and still is) his Thomas train. This kid is going to be a TRAIN lover... and he LOVES Thomas! Another thing about Nixon is he is super SENSITIVE about pretty much EVERYTHING. While he loves his Thomas, he is also very scared of it when it is in the "on" position, because it can go by itself... I guess it's just a little too scary for him, so Thomas is kept off mostly.

:PART TWO:

We didn't do a traditional smash cake on his actual birthday, because I wanted a photo session for him with one and I wanted to save the session for after his surgery and a haircut. :o)

~The cake~

My friend/neighbor made the cake for us, and she did an awesome job! I couldn't be happier with it. While I LOVE the bright colors, and the fun look of a fondant frosted cake (I STILL need to post about Easton's birthday, and his AMAZING cake). I really wanted something simple and classic for Nixon's cake, and she captured my vision perfectly! I love that I have such talented friends, and that I can trade pictures for cake!

~The Birthday Boy~

(look at those BEAUTIFUL- and beautifully CLEAR eyes!)

I've noticed that people who are picky about what they eat usually have no problem with SWEETS... Nixon was no exception! This cake was a yummy gingerbread cake with a cream cheese frosting... YUMMY.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIXON!