Christmas Time

So for the past several years, I have not put the Christmas tree up. Partly because we had purchased a chest of drawers that was in the place where we put the tree, and there wasn't another good spot for it at the townhouse. Partly, I admit it was laziness. It takes about 4-5 hrs. to get our artificial tree up and decorated. Last year was our first year at the new house, but Liam was just born and we didn't have the time nor the energy to put it up. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to this year either. Liam is one, and really wouldn't get it...I know I'm a bit of a scrooge. But, about a week before Christmas, it was snowing, and I put some holiday music on and I got in the mood and decided to put it up! We wanted to get a few pictures of Liam in front of the tree, but somehow when I finally downloaded the pictures we didn't get any :( The best we have is Liam off to the side, or facing the tree. Oh well....So, here are a few pictures from 2008, Liam's 2nd Christmas. Plus a cute picture of him last year, his first Christmas.

Silly Liam

Liam was eating lunch, and started to blow raspberries. When mom said 'No', he thought it was a game and started laughing, and doing it more. He was being so silly, I had to get a video of him!! This was taken on 12-19-08, he's just over one years old.



Silly Liam from Mike and April on Vimeo.

Work-Out Update

So I've done pretty well getting into the habit of working out over the last 8 weeks. I missed some days at the first of this month when I was getting ready for Liam's birthday party, but thankfully was able to get back into my routine. I have also decided to alternate yoga more during the week. I stopped pumping, so that has opened up some more time in my day, especially in the morning before work. So for the past 2 days, I decided to get up before work and do my workout. Now, I am not a morning person mind you, and my inner monologue usually goes something like this; 'If you get up and do the workout now, you won't have to do it late tonight', 'Oh, but the bed is so comfy and warm', 'But if you workout now, you will have more time to be with Liam tonight.' Even though it's soo hard to get out of bed, it actually is really nice to get it done first thing in the morning, and not have to think about it after a long day at work. As far as losing weight, I think that I have lost about 2 lbs since the last update. The scale we have is a bit unreliable, but I do know that my pants are getting loser, so I must be doing something right! I bought myself 2 new workout DVDs for Christmas, so we will see how that goes.

Watch Liam Grow!

Since Liam was born we try to take a picture of me and him on the fire place every week to see how much he grows and changes. The bigger he got, the harder it was to take the picture, so there are a few missing weeks in between, but here is the first picture we took on 12-22-07, when he was about 2 weeks old and the most recent one taken on his first birthday 12-7-08. It just amazes us how much they change in the first year!! Below there is a link to see all the pictures taken so far.



WATCH LIAM GROW ALBUM:

Happy 1st Birthday Liam!!

On Saturday the 6th, we had a Birthday party for Liam with our family. We had some good food, and Grandma P. made a Winnie the Pooh cake that was like Mike's when he was a kid. He got some new toys (thanks everyone!), and then we sang to him and enjoyed some cake and ice cream. He held up pretty good, although toward the end he was pretty overwhelmed with all the attention and tired too.

On the 7th, which was his actual Birthday, we gave him birthday hugs and kisses at his birth time at 10:27 am. He enjoyed playing with all his new toys. He tried some salmon and cow's milk, both foods that our Dr. recommended waiting till he was one.

We reminisced about the day he was born, which was one month early. Even though it was pretty scary being a month early, and a little frustrating getting him to eat in the hospital, we both have fond memories of that time. We also can not believe that an entire year has flown by already. Although at the same time it's hard to remember life without him. He is such a joy in our lives and we are so grateful he is in it.

MORE PICTURES HERE:

Cute Pic!

Liam visits the Aquarium

We met my friend Julie and her boyfriend Justin and their baby Landon at the Aquarium today. We had a great time!! Liam loved watching the fish, and splashing in the water in the stingray tank. He got to see a shark swim right above his head too! We ended up buying a season pass too, so we look forward to going again soon.

MORE PICTURES HERE:


Liam visits the Aquarium from Mike and April on Vimeo.

Picture Time Again!

We went to our sis-in-laws family's home on Saturday and took some more pictures with her dad's photo equipment. This picture is one of my favorite ones.

MORE PICTURES HERE:

New Blog

I'm starting a new blog where I post some of our favorite recipes. They will be mostly vegetarian, with some fish ones too. If you are looking for something new and healthy to eat, and mostly easy to do, this will be a good place to look.

Here is the link: (it is also linked on the side-under 'my sites').

http://www.fayzfav.blogspot.com/

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween. We carved our pumpkins and lit them on the porch. I did something new this year with my pumpkin, and carved Jack the pumpkin king. We put 'Nightmare Before Christmas' on and Liam watched it for a bit. Mike made BBQ-'Chicken' pizza for the first time, and it was REALLY good! We put Liam's Tiger costume on and we handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters.


Liam's cousin Baloo came by dressed as a bear. They were so cute together!

More Halloween Pics Here:

Mixed Results

So it took me a month from my 'No Pain No Gain' post to actually get started with my routine, but I am proud to say that I have worked out everyday for the last 12 days. Most days I have been working out 30 min. on the elliptical, if I have a little more time I will do the 'Buns of Steel' video, if I'm short on time I will do some yoga, but I have made an effort to do something everyday! I have also scaled back on snacking, especially junk food. The good news is I am feeling better, and am building muscle, the bad news is I have lost 0 lbs?! I have about 10-11 lbs. that I would like to lose. I have heard the last 10 lbs. is the hardest to lose, and I sure believe it. The 2 factors that I can think of that may be a reason would be muscle weighs more than fat, and also I am still pumping milk for Liam, and that can change hormones which influence weight loss. Anyway, I am not going to give up!

Liam visits the Zoo

Today we went to the Hogle zoo with Liam's cousin Madison and her family and Grandma P. The zoo was having Trick-or-treating for the kids, so it was super busy. But we still had a great time. Mike and I had not been to the zoo for many years, so we were really impressed with the new habitats for the animals, and also how many new animals have been added.




Click here for more pictures of our trip to the zoo.

Pumpkin Land

We have a tradition of going to Vineyard's Pumpkin Land every October and picking out a couple BIG pumpkins to carve for Halloween. This year we were excited to take Liam. He seemed to enjoy the big orange things, and even wanted to try a taste.

Check out more October fun pictures here:

Lil' Stinker

Liam has a new habit now, that was funny the first time, but isn't so much any more. He now likes to blow raspberries and spit while he's eating. Let's just say that it makes for a pretty messy time for all of us. Here is a picture and note from his Grandma today while he ate lentil soup.


"He loved the lentil soup, but not until he had enjoyed spitting it and playing in it!! He ate every bite. He even pulled his bib up and sucked on it!!"

Happy 10 Year Anniversary!

10 years ago today we were married, and 13 years ago today we went on our first date.

Happy Anniversary D.H. I love you!

I Heart Fall.

Fall is my favorite season. Here is a top 10 list of things I love about fall.

1. Trees turn vibrant colors

2. Crisp clean air

3. Earthy fall scents

4. Candy Corn

5. Pumpkins

6. Halloween

7. Making chili and soup

8. Peaches

9. Apple Cider

10. Anniversary of our first date and wedding.

Happy Birthday Michael!

I asked Mike what he wanted for his birthday, and he said that Liam was his gift. Happy B-day! We love you.

We Have A Yard!!

We finally have our yard in, and we are very happy with it! Here are a few before and after pictures:

Front yard Before

Front yard After

Under Porch Before

Under Porch After

Side Yard Before

Side Yard After

Park Strip Before

Park Strip After

Side Yard Back Before

Side Yard Back After

Peaches, Peaches and More Peaches

We have been enjoying boxes of peaches lately. We have been buying them from a local farmer, Mr. Pyne. Mike grew up around his orchard, and has fond memories playing in the orchards with his grand kids, and eating the peaches. Mr. Pyne is a sweet old man, and even though he doesn't remember me after going there every week or so for the past couple months, he sure has delicious peaches. They are picked vine ripe, or a few days from being ripe, and that makes for a juicy wonderful peach.

One of our favorite ways we have enjoyed our peaches is cutting them up and putting them over some Breyers vanilla ice cream. We have also made some blended baby food for Liam. We would like to dry some before the season is over too! It's just so hard to dry them though, when they are just so good to snack on fresh!

No Pain No Gain

I have been a bit lax in trying to loose my 'baby fat', but I do have a good excuse in that I rarely have time to work out. I get up between 6 and 6:30am, I get ready for work, drop Liam off at one of his grandma's house, and then work from 8am to 4pm. I get home around 5 or 6 pm, and then take turns playing with Liam till he's ready for bed around 8pm. Then we eat dinner around 8:30 or 9 pm, and then it's time to shower and/or go to bed. However, somehow I am just going to have to carve out some time somewhere because I don't have many winter clothes that fit me right. I have tried buying new clothes a few times, but for some reason I am having a difficult time finding stuff that fits me well.

Anyway, 2 days ago while Liam was napping, I was able to squeeze in 50 minutes to do a workout called 'Buns of Steel'. It was produced in the 80's, and it's so old you can only find it on VHS. The video is pretty dated, with cheesy music and florescent outfits. The instructor Greg Smithey has some pretty silly lines too, but I LOVE this work out. The workout works muscles in your body that you didn't even know were there, and it can get pretty intense at times that I felt like I wanted to cry, but I felt really good after. And 2 days later, I can still feel it. I think if I can keep it up for a month or 2, I can get to where I need to be to fit into my old clothes comfortably....crossing my fingers that I will have the time and motivation!

HAPPY B-DAY SEQUOIA!

Sequoia turned 12 years old today, which is pretty remarkable considering her size. We are so happy to have her with us still. She has been really sweet with Liam, although now that he's mobile she is not too sure what to make of him. We are glad she has been so healthy this far. Although we know she is getting slow in her step, we know she is still young at heart when she runs across the house to greet us when we get home. We love you Sequoia!

Update on Life

I wish I had more time to update my blog, however Liam is now at the age that he needs to be watched every second. In 2 weeks he has learned to sit up on his own and crawl, and now he wants to explore and get into everything!!

Over the Labor day holiday we went to the Davis Family reunion. I haven't seen most of that side of the family for about 10 years. All my cousins now have families of their own, and it was good to see everyone. We learned a couple things about the Davis side, and that is Liam fits in with his blond hair and fair skin, and I get my taste for salt and green apples from that side of the family. The family planned activities with the kids where they celebrated the different holidays. We were there on Saturday when they had an easter egg hunt, and later in the afternoon we decorated cookies for valentines day. We thought that was a creative idea.

Here is a cute picture of Liam with his cousins sharing an egg with him from the easter egg hunt.


Liam with his Grandpa Davis.

More pictures can be found here:

End of Summer Concert

Last Summer Mike and I went to see Bela Fleck at Red Butte Garden in SLC. We saw lots of kids there and thought it was great to see people taking their kids to enjoy music. At the end of this summer, we decided to take Liam to see John Hiatt at the same venue. We are kinda home bodies, so we were unsure how well he would do in that kind of a setting, but he was really good, and seemed to really like it.

Joan Osborne opened for John....we decided it was a bit loud for his ears, so we moved further back.



After the sun went down, it got a bit chilly. Liam fell asleep in my arms, and then we decided to take off a little early, so we didn't get stuck in the crowd leaving.

We all had a great time!