Ethan's 3rd Birthday

 This cake Grandma and Grandpa Anderson brought over to celebrate Ethan's birthday. They showed up on Sunday afternoon with cake and ice cream.

 This cake we had with Grandma and Grandpa Crapo a few days late, but at least we had a celebration.

 His steel dump truck that should last him years of fun. From Grandma and Grandpa Crapo

 This truck he was playing with while we were in Kmart and when we were ready to go we told him he had to tell it good-bye. He was MAD for the rest of the day. You can't see in these pictures but he had an ear to ear grin when he opened it.

My mile!!

Whew! I thought I was going to die today when I was walking my mile. I made it in 19:03. Kicked my butt though. It's going to be a L.O.N.G. time before I accomplish that in 18 minutes.

James and his accomplishments

James is almost six months old, just today he rolled over by himself. When he's been on his belly he has been scooting a little bit forward. Still no teeth. He's been sleeping through the night, for the most part, since he was about four months old. He loves to lay on the floor and play with his gym. Just last month he finally outgrew the newborn and 0-3 months clothes. I tried feeding him some rice cereal last week, but he was either just too hungry and mad to eat it or he just wasn't ready for it.

He's growing up very fast. He has been talking a lot lately, doesn't matter if anyone is listening to him or not. He is also a thumb sucker. All three of the brown haired, brown eyed children suck their thumbs. James took his first bath in the bathtub last week. He loved playing in the water, he laughed and giggled and splashed.

Gizmo

Gizmo was my cat, the first cat I've had since I left home. I got him in November 2007 and he was a part of the family. The last time I saw him was at Christmas time last year. I've been hoping that he was just adopted by another family. But I saw his lifeless body on the side of the road yesterday. He's been there the last few months under the piles of snow we got at the time he disappeared. It broke my heart to see him there and to know that's where he's been the last few months.
 My cats become a special part of the family and I felt like a part of my heart was torn out to realize that he will never come home to me, to sleep on my feet or to curl up on my lap again.

New Van

Well this is what we spent the majority of our tax return on this year. The van we had didn't even fit all of us when we bought it, but at the time we were desperate and needed one. We were legal as long as Michael wasn't with us, but then we had James and we really didn't fit. We decided to go with the 15 passenger so that we'd have the room for storage.

Michael thought it would be funny to post on my facebook account that I needed help naming it. Here are the suggestions so far:

Automobile Snowman
Abominable Snowvan
People Mover
Cruise Ship
HOV (Hybrid Offset Vehicle)
King of the Road
Whale
Patience
Brutus
VANna White
Hootwagon
BMW (Big Mormon Wagon)
Titanic
Big Bertha

Woooohoooooo!!!

Today I walked a mile on the treadmill in 19 minutes and 43 seconds. Wow. My next goal is 18 minutes for a mile.

more progress

20:21, that is my new time for a mile. I will get it one of these days :) I haven't noticed much change on the scale or the way I look but I can feel the changes happening in my body. Woohoo!!! Things that were all jiggly before are firming up and I can actually make it that mile and not die.

Progress

Wow! I didn't think I was making any progress with my workouts but this morning I noticed that my huge love handles have diminished, still there but much smaller. Yea!! I guess it's just going to take some time to notice changes. I know it's not going to happen overnight but I want to see change.

Update

Whew! I've really been pushing myself on the treadmill and today I walked a mile in 20:36. I almost made it under 20. Woohoo!! I've been walking on the treadmill and then doing all the exercises on the machines and then trying to also get in 20 minutes on the bike. Hopefully one of these days I'll be able to see some results from all this work. Until then I'll just keep pushing myself.

Scouts

Aaron attended his last Cub Scout Pack Meeting tonight. He received his Arrow of Light award and advanced to Boy Scouts. Wow, when did this kid grow up? Where has the time gone? I'm so proud of the accomplishments he did in order to earn his Arrow of Light. Now he just needs to focus on earning merit badges and getting to his Eagle, which he is really excited to earn.