I was babysitting this handsome boy, Dustin, and his brother the other day and Ashlyn just snuggled up to him and was so sweet with him. Patting his head and planting kisses all over him. She likes babies that are a few months younger than her. She and her cousin Carpi are starting to play. So sad we are leaving in a month. : ( I have a feeling her cousins in Oregon will be too rowdy for her. Although, I am getting a new niece or nephew on the Tanner side this fall. My brother Kevin will become a dad. Hoping for the first girl on that side.
I haven't published growth stats for my kids in a long time. They have been pretty much normal (uninteresting) in their growth. Ashlyn had her appointment today, and she hasn't gained any weight. She is still 20 lbs (12th percentile). Not off the charts small, but coming from much higher percentiles it seems small. She is normal in height (50th percentile). I thought she was looking thinner. Doc wants her to gain weight by 18 months. I just gave Ashlyn her first peanut butter sandwich today after asking the doc if he thought it was ok (I get nervous about p.b.), and she likes it! I have always wanted a kid I could make a peanut butter sandwich for. :) So quick and easy. I think Tanner ruined it for Dallin, saying they are yucky and make you sick. If you have any ideas for healthy fatty foods for kids send them my way. Avocados are a no go, so don't mention it. :) I wish she liked them.
I took pictures of these cute sisters this weekend. I love taking pictures of little girls. So quick to smile. I am doing a few boys in the next couple weeks. You could see more here.
I am a little surprised how studious Tanner is. I thought he would be a class clown and not care much about academics, but he really enjoys learning and reading. He gets a folder full of homework on Tuesdays and he likes to get right to it. I am so happy he is so self motivated. Hope it lasts.
Here is a video of him reading a Bob Book. These little easy readers are great for kids learning to read. The illustrations are pretty unimpressive, but Tanner still really loves them and help his confidence because he can read them without help.
Ashlyn likes books too. She goes into this little corner by her crib and reads. She also likes to poop in this spot. :)
We borrowed "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" from some friends around Christmas time, and we ended up getting it as a gift later. Dallin is obsessed with the Grinch for some reason. Wants to watch the movie everyday and sleeps with the book we have.
Dallin is our unmotivated child. Tanner teaches himself to tie his own shoes, ride a two wheeled bike, hula hoop, and then there is Dallin, who is the opposite. NOT THAT WE LOVE ONE MORE THAN THE OTHER. I AM JUST SAYING THEY ARE DIFFERENT. He doesn't like to dress himself. Still wears a diaper at night. Won't even put on his own velcro shoes! I have been trying to make him dress himself for a long, long time. He is starting to now, but this is what we get: Pants on backwards, shirt on inside out and backwards. And underwear: I have seen them on backwards, inside out, 2 pair at a time, and on his head.
Ashlyn is 15 months now and this is as close as we get to walking.I think she will do it within the month. All my kids walk around 16 months it appears. She seems extra delayed since I have a couple friends whose babies are walking very early, like around 9 months. So Ashlyn has these younger friends who are running circles around her. It is fine by me, just funny to see.
And an update on my diet. I have been adding lots of healthy fats back into my diet and am actually losing weight. I was kind of skeptical about trying it, but gave it a go. I don't even remember the last time I was this low. Maybe junior high. I was kind of chubby. Pretty strange how by eating fat I am losing it. The most recent book I read was "Eat Fat, Lose Fat" and am going to implement a few things from that book into my diet as well. I will keep you updated, if you care to know.
I can see my father-in-law rolling his eyes at me now. :) Some of you love to hear about nutrition and others don't. If you don't, just skip this post. I don't mind. :)
I've read lots of nutrition books, from "China Study" to "Nourishing Traditions", and everything in between. If you're familiar with those two, you know they are complete opposites. I've heard so many opposing view points that I gave up on my study of nutrition for a while. Then I found The Perfect 10 Diet as a free download, and thought why not?
I am pretty open minded and enjoy reading things that are nontraditional and controversial. The book challenges what I have believed my whole life--that we should eat a low fat diet--but it actually makes sense. I don't understand completely how our bodies work. I can't tell you what every nutrient does for our bodies, but this book rang true. Maybe I am just gullible. :) Very possible.
Some key points that may shock you:
The formula for the Perfect 10 Diet is
40-20-40: 40 percent of calories should come from carbohydrates, 20
percent from protein, and 40 percent from fat (natural fats).
Followers of the Perfect 10 Diet should eat saturated fats such as those found in real butter and whole milk.
Cholesterol-rich food is not bad for you.
Lean meats such as beef, pork, and lamb are not good for you.
I know what you are thinking. Whoa! What that heck?!? That can't be right! Especially since it is a book about weight loss. That is what made this book so intriguing.
Other points that may or may not shock you:
Sugar is the devil. The diet is low dairy. The diet is low on grains, but not carbs. Organics are best for us. This diet actually helps lower cholesterol levels.
The book is all about balancing hormones in order to lose weight. Even though it talks a lot about weight loss it is more than that. There is a weight loss plan and and a maintenance plan. The difference is in the number of grains you consume.
You will have to read it see why he believes the way he does. Really interesting read. Go ahead call me crazy.
Not much going on for us these days, well, nothing interesting. Nate is doing his 4th clinical affiliation here in town. He's enjoying working on necks and backs. I am getting us ready to move end of February, and taking pictures here and there. I started up a Facebook page if you want to "like" me click on the link on the side of my blog. I'd love that!
We, Nate and I, are doing the same 6 week Wellness Challenge I did around Thanksgiving. I am glad he is joining me this time around. It makes not eating sweets much easier since neither of us can. We set a personal goal at the beginning of the challenge, and mine was to keep a food journal for the 6 weeks. I do it with myfitnesspal.com, which is my favorite online food journal. I've tried several. It has helped me to be extra careful about portion sizes. I am down a couple pounds already just by being more aware. I had been struggling with the last few pounds I wanted to lose, and this is making a difference.
Every time I set up my backdrops and props Ashlyn comes on over and plops in the middle of everything.
Took pictures of this little girl this week. See more here. I am doing two more kids tomorrow.
Grandpa Spence got the kids some light sabers and guns for Christmas. Ashlyn got into it as much as the boys.Ashlyn loves to dance to any music.
I am giving a lady some photography lessons and using her kids as models. We practiced together today. Here are some I took. I love 5 year olds, so eager to pose and smile.
I took these of her baby last week. You can see more on my photography blog.
We went to Jeremie and Sharla's house, on New Year's Eve and played some Xbox and had root beer floats. Here is a link to a video of the kids. It is a little long, so if you've seen the first 30 seconds you've seen it all. Just wait til Ashlyn starts dancing in the background. http://youtu.be/A9aRyBn4J3Q
And here is Ashlyn in a dress/shirt I made for her. I loved the fabric. It is hard to see since she isn't standing but there are two ruffles. And I finally trimmed her bangs so they aren't in her eyes all the time.
We haven't been bowling in a while, so when Grandpa Spence came to town we decided it was time.
Dallin didn't throw very hard so he would race the ball down the isle alongside our lane. We didn't see the sign that said "Employees Only Beyond This Point" until the end of our games.
Jordan and Calin came too.
Tanner got really into his form. It was a little over exagerated, but super cute. If the ball wasn't so heavy it would have worked better for him.
Ashlyn wanted to bowl. We have a toy bowling set at home and she knows the game and has played before.
She kept inching closer and closer to the lane.
The boys each bowled about a 60 point game with bumpers. That is about as good as I do too. :)
Dallin, in action. He loved his shoes, and wanted to take them home.
Steve bowling.
The kids had a blast while we were there, but when it came time to go home, everyone was crying because they wanted to stay.
One of our traditions at Christmas time is to let everyone chose any cereal for Christmas morning.Of course the kids go for the sugariest there are.
Ashlyn had a hard time unwrapping. She got distracted by the pieces of paper. Would start playing with it.
The boys seemed pretty excited about their gifts. They are wearing armor. We got some swords for them around Halloween and they would cry so much because they'd get stabbed. Problem solved.
Ashlyn was super excited about this dolly she got from her cousin Ty, or was it Maylee?
This ball popper was a hit...with ALL the kids. It was for Ashlyn. She got so excited after she'd push the button. There is a video below if you care to see.
The kids got pillow cases their Grandma Tanner made for them. This is Dallin's excited face. :) But not Ashlyn's.
And I got a Kitchen Aid that I have been wanting for years! My hand mixer finally broke, so Nate upgraded me. :)
We had Christmas eve dinner with Jordan and Michaela and some friends. I left feeling sick from eating all the sweets. Michaela made cookies, fudge, and toffee. Plus we had all the traditional stuff. It was a fun afternoon. We look forward to tomorrow. We will have a Christmas brunch with them and go to church, and who knows what else. Play with presents probably.
We see the expression on the right when ever we walk into the door and Ashlyn sees us. She says "Hi!" It's my favorite.
Here is Capri in her beautiful Christmas dress and headband that Michaela made. I didn't get a good picture of it. It was amazing. She is so talented.
Dallin loves the Grinch, and here is Nate telling him the story.
Calin was cracking me up. He seems to look up to Tanner. Tanner crossed his arms and Calin saw him do it, and he did it too. I don't know why Tanner is so cool to him. I hope Tanner is a good influence since he is the oldest.
Ashlyn, you are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey.
I think Ashlyn is so smiley because I can't help but smile every time I look at her. She is such a sweetie.
She is still not quite walking, but won't be long.
I took some of my friends' pictures this week. This is Sarah with her little guy, Bridger. He is a couple months old now.
This age is hard to photography because they don't sit, they don't hold their heads up real well either, They don't smile on demand or sleep during a session, so we just had her hold him. Isn't he a cutie?
This this is my other friend, Natasha's, baby. Tiny little gal, less than 6 pounds and only one week old.
I told Dallin we would be going to Utah over the weekend and he said "My-tah?" Get it? Ha ha. He makes me laugh.
We went down to Utah this weekend and pretty much as soon as we got there Dallin's voice started to sound a little raspy and he started coughing. He got feverish a little later. I felt horrible taking that with us as we visited some friends, but we had no idea until we were already there. I feel especially bad now because we found out today that it is strep throat. We hope no one we visited gets sick. I also got sick our first night in Utah; throwing up and feeling junky. I am not kidding, almost every time we go to Utah we get sick! We had to cancel some of our visits because of our sickness. Such a disappointing weekend, but the Wu's were awesome to let us stay with them, even though we were sick, and they even babysat for us! They will probably regret being so hospitable if they all get sick now. So, so sorry!
Another funny: I told the kids I threw up, and Tanner asked why. I told him I had a "bug". He said, "You ate a bug!?!" Ha ha. How do you explain viruses to kids?
Ashlyn is as spunky (and shaggy) as ever though. Hope she doesn't get sick.
I felt like doing new stockings for the kids this year. Just for fun. I have lots of scrap fabric so I pulled a bunch out and made these. They were really fun.
