Ty turns 2

We celebrated Ty's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's. Unfortunately all of those pictures are lost due to our camera malfunction. One thing is for sure, Chuck E. Cheese is where a KID CAN BE A KID! We enjoyed the pizza, games, the jungle gym, and more games.The kids had smiles on their faces, that is until they didn't get the prize they wanted due to a lack of tickets.

The BIG day



This kid must be full of hot air because he actually blew out his candles.





After becoming a pro at opening presents over Christmas, he was ready for the festivities to begin.



This boy was excited about his new race track (Shake n' Go Extreme) and trains.





It's good to be 2.

ALL ABOUT TY:

It's official, we no longer have a baby but a toddler. Ty is 2 and asserting his free agency and testing his limits. He thinks hitting solves any problem. He has officially been introduced to the time out chair.

Ty is only 22 lbs. He isn't on any curve when it comes to weight. I guess you can say he follows his own curve, which is ok with me because he is ACTIVE and HAPPY.

He loves to jump. (Our landlords aren't fond of the noise he tends to make) He is always on the move and has always had a certain walk or I might even call it a trot.

He loves books. His favorite book changes from week to week.

He is interested in action figures, trains, balls, and cars.

He also loves TV a bit too much. His favorite movie is Toy Story.

Anyone who knows Ty knows he 's ADDICTED...to his BINKIE that is. (In some ways mommy probably is too. It's too easy to stick the plug in.) Now that he has tubes and is actually feeling up to par its time for the Binkie to go bye, bye. A day I have been DREADING! We have limited Binkie time right now. He only gets it for naps and bedtime. It's only a matter of time before they disappear. Wish me luck!



Ty loves his Buzz Light Year pjs. In fact he won't take the off. (this is sounding all too familiar). I have to hide them whenever I wash them because he looks for it in the clean basket of clothes and begs to wear them. He will hold up his pjs and say BUZZ and shake his head frantically. Yes, there are days that he lives in his pjs all day long.





We love our little super hero.

Holiday Fun

Decorating the tree.



A trip into the City over the holidays is a must.


The windows


A quick visit to the North Pole.


Waiting patiently to see Santa.


The Jolly old man himself.




The famous Rockefeller Tree


The holidays came and went. It was a busy month for the Anderson family. As soon as the month began we got busy preparing some surprise packages for a family who would hopefully enjoy the 12 days before Christmas. We made sure to plan time for some of our favorite traditions including making a homemade gingerbread house and and making some candy and cookies for friends. With all our preparations the big day finally came and went. It did not disappoint! The only mishap was Tasha was sick for Christmas Eve. We spent a relaxing Christmas in our pajamas trying to recover from the hustle and bustle of the month. Unfortunately I have no proof that we did anything else during the month of December. We had several, and I mean several pictures on our memory card that we couldn't download. We were going to take the memory card to a computer store to see if they could get our pictures back, but the price was too high ($200.00 just to look at it). We have learned an important lesson. Download any pictures as soon as you take any to avoid such dissapointment. At least we were able to enjoy the holidays together. Instead of pictures we will treasure the memories that were made.

Thanksgiving

We were fortunate to be able to go to Utah over the Thanksgiving holiday. The main reason: A wedding.


Tasha begged me to put curlers in her hair for the big occasion and this was the end result. What a doll!



Garrett looked pretty sharp in his slacks, vest and bowtie. (Too bad I can't get him to wear them now that we are home.)



Dave just happened to make his appearance (as a cardboard cut out). Dave was serving a mission in New York at the time.



Cousins

The best part of a fancy dress is twirling around and around and around.

The new bride Stephanie.

The great part about any visit to Utah is spending time with grandparents. Grandma Fredericks always has some kind of activity or craft for the kids to do.

Santa Countdown Calendar

Since the holidays were around the corner. It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

I came across a bunch of turkeys.

This turkey in particular really caught my eye.

The candy turkey didn't look bad either.

Thanksgiving Day finally arrived and we spent time with both families. Unfortunately I must of been a little too excited about the food that I forgot to take pictures of the Anderson Thanksgiving get together. The only picture I captured was Rob in a coma state after eating so much YUMMY food.

Our second Thanksgiving meal with Fredericks clan.

To end our trip we were able to reenact the Nativity. What a way to begin the holidays and to focus our thoughts on the Savior.

Nature Center in Stamford

We spent many hours at the Nature Center in the spring and summer months while we lived in Stamford. As the holidays approached we had the opportunity to join our friends and take advantage of the holiday activities the Nature Center had to offer.


The main attraction: The farm animals








The craft: candy cane bird feeder


Refreshments: cookies and hot chocolate

Corn Maze

P90X GRADUATES

Question: Did we survive a full 90 days of P90X?

Answer: YES!!! WITH FLYING COLORS!

Going in to this program I set some pretty high goals for myself. I'm pleased to say that I accomplished what I set out to do. I told myself that I wasn't going to miss a workout and....I DIDN'T. NOT ONE! Exercising 6 days a week was rough at times and there were days I wanted to skip it altogether but my DETERMINATION WON and I pushed myself to the MAX.

Now about the food, we followed the guidelines but we didn't follow it to a T. Having non-fat everything is rough and I wasn't willing to buy new condiments or products when we had several around the house that needed to be used. Although we did try several low-fat products. The only day that I allowed myself to cheat was on Thanksgiving. I threw all the rules out the window that day. I ate whatever I wanted and I enjoyed every bite!

Question: So were their benefits?

Answer: Yes. I learned a lot about myself the past 3 months. I certainly have more confidence in myself. There are things I still want to accomplish and I now know I can face any challenge and conquer any mountain I choose to climb. I know some of you are thinking "I could never do that," and to that response I say this: If you think you can't, YOU CAN'T, if you think you can, YOU CAN AND YOU WILL. ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!

Since starting this program there are things I couldn't do that now I can. There are also things I can't do well but plan on improving.

Another Benefit: We have learned the importance of eating clean (I loved the book by Tosca Reno entitled Eat Clean). We learned healthy ways to cook. We learned about healthier options when planning our menus. We eat more vegetables and are learning tasty ways to prepare them. We now have a better balance of all the food groups. We know what are body needs and fuel it with the best fuel possible. I now look at labels, notice ingredients in packages, and buy more produce and less prepackaged foods.

Question: Did our kids eat what we ate?

Answer: NO...BUT...they notice what we eat. They are conscious of what is healthy and what is not. They are more willing to have a vegetable of their choice each day. They have tried a few new things. Little by little we hope to teach them the importance of eating right and living a healthy lifestyle.

Question: What about our final results?

Answer: We kept track of our progress weekly. We took our weight and measurements on our waist, hips, chest, arms, and thighs. We noticed things shrinking, inches were lost in many areas. Here are a couple stats: I lost 8 lbs. and Rob lost 10 lbs. I lost 3.3% of my body fat and Rob lost 3.6%.

Question: What's next?

Answer: We are hoping to survive the holidays. It has been rough!! We will continue to workout but not as intense and cut back to about 4 days a week. We plan to continue to eat healthy but allowing ourselves to have treats occasionally. Maybe a 5k run will be in my future. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...I'm seriously thinking about it.