One Year Old

One year ago today my wonderful daughter was born. I cannot even describe the love and joy she has brought into my life. I've been spending all morning reliving the miracle that was her entrance into this world. The waking up anxious knowing that this morning I was going to meet my child. The jittery anxiety that I felt getting dressed in the hospital gown and being prepped for surgery. The sheer joy I heard at that first cry and seeing her for the first time. I treasure my child. The love I have for her surpasses my understanding.

Loralei took three steps yesterday. Three steps into my arms. I am so proud of all the things she is learning and doing. This is it this is the joy I've been searching my whole life for. I love my family and I am truly grateful. Truly my cup overfloweth.

Now here are some pics.

Wow It's Been Awhile

It is April 12th already! I can't believe that Loralei is 11 months. Here is a run down of the things she can do now

1. She can stand, but only when no one is looking or cheering or generally paying attention to her in any way. She "accidentally" stands and the look on her face is priceless.
2. She waves all the time everywhere. She loves going thru WalMart just waving.
3. She gives high fives! Well holds up her hands to let you give her a high five.
4. She knows ALL of Pattey-Cake and loves to "toss it in the oven," tho my personal favorite is when she "rolls it and rolls it."
5. She can say "Bomp Pa" for grandpa, MumMum for me, Dad-Dat for her daddy, "Whaz-dat or Whoz -dat" for what's or who's that, and "NA NA NA" for ninny or breastfeeding, and many more I can't seem to remember right now.

She's such a blessing to have around. She is in to everything and pulls everything out every chance she gets tho I wouldn't have it any other way. She's learning so much.

About non-Rory related news. Ryan and I had our tow year anniversary. It is wonderful being married to the person Heavenly Father deemed just for you. :) We went to St. George and we have a few pics that I will upload later. Sorry this will be a picture-less post. :(

Easter was wonderful. Also, I have lost down to pre wedding weight. Woohoo for me! My life has been so completely blessed and I'm so grateful that I have been blessed with all I have. I can't end this post without talking about the awesomeness that was General Conference. We are so blessed as a church to hear from our prophet twice a year and this session was so meaningful to me. I loved Sister Beck's talk and admire her courage. I believe that the messages were so beautiful and encouraging. I'm glad that I am a mother in Zion truly.

Until next time, please take care!

Photos and Updates

Here are some pics that I promised. We are hanging in here waiting for our St. George trip to come around. It's going to be a blast! Loralei is 9 months old and she is crawling and trying really hard to walk. She's growing up way too fast.

I am still on my weight loss program tho I've hit a plateau and have been around the 20 lb mark for two months now. I'm recommitting myself to losing 35lbs. before summer.

We can't wait for Spring and are having so so much fun being parents and living life.

Crawling! And what I'm looking at...

Rory Roo is crawling! She pretty much started two days ago and now no room or low shelf is safe from...The Ravager! LOL She is so funny she followed me to the shower yesterday and was knocking on the door. Part of me is so excited that Loralei is crawling where as the other part of me is so sad that I've lost my immobile baby. They truly grow up so fast.

So most now I work at home on the internet 4 hours a day. I love my job and I am truly blessed to have it. It does how ever give me the opportunity to be online more than maybe someone else. I have have found some truly hilarious site. I suggest you check out the Sleep Talkin' Man. Warning this site has some language but as a fellow sleep talker his nite time ramblings crack me up. I also like mentalfloss.com. It's a site for knowledge junkie and has all sorts of articles that I love to read everyday. Also, if you don't already be sure to check out fark.com. It's a site for all the news and "notnews" of the day with a sarcastic slant.

No pics this time. Will upload some soon.

And now we have video!!

Ok so this is Rory. I know this is strange but I was trying to get her to yell. She does a little and it's adorable. I will get better on the camera work! I promise!

20 Pounds Down!!

Wooohooo! I have officially lost 20 pounds! My diet is going well, I have to thank breastfeeding and my Wii Fit for providing me with the means to work off more calories.

Loralei and I are recovering from a cold. I can't stand being sick. This cold was a doozy. I wonder why I get so sick when I'm exposed to less germs being at home. It's really true kids are grubby little germ carriers. I read recently that scientists now believe that your appendix is used for a warehouse of sorts for your immune system. Maybe that's my problem! My immune system has no back up storage!

We went to the car show on Saturday to celebrate Ry's birthday. That boy better love me! 4.5 hours of looking at cars with a cold. We found some cars that we really like tho. We really like the Chevy Traverse. It's really roomy and the seats fold down like a breeze. The next our list is the Ford Explorer but their seats are really tough to get down and behind. There's like 3 steps and I don't think any child would bother with all three steps. The Chevy Traverse is also a good bit cheaper and really nice inside. I would love for that to be my next car.

Here are some pictures that I haven't posted.

Christmas, Rory's first Winter

I'm sorry for the blogging delay. I have been diligently blogging on my weight loss blog and things have been so crazy busy and add a penchant for laziness and you have my lack contributing. We took Christmas pictures of Loralei. I hand-made that tutu. It was pretty easy, I did make it afterall and we had such a good time getting Rory to mug for the camera. Here are some pics of all of us around the holidays. The last pic is of me and Rory walking around the neighborhood. It's about 30 degrees Fahrenheit on average everyday. So I will rig her up in her sling and put my coat on over her. We walk all around the neighborhood and it makes me so happy to get out and get some sunshine. Life is wonderful Our new year's resolutions are still going strong. And I have lost over 16.5 pounds since starting my diet.

For Christmas we got a Wii Fit and we have so much fun with it. I can tell I am getting fitter. Ryan got me a gorgeous necklace and out first date movie "The Princess Bride" and Wii Music. I got him a model car, two model rockets, a tools to put those together. Rory got the best haul. We bought her several toys and about 18 books, we found them on sale. The inlaws got us sleeping bags.

Ry's birthday is coming up. I already have gotten him his gifts. I can reveal it here. I found the best deal on a golf club set for lefties. I am trying really hard to surprise him, it's been really difficult so far. He's taken me to Big 5 to look at golf club sets and talked on and on about it. I've been forced to tell him I have bought his gift and to not look too hard for it in our apartment. It's really hidden at his parents! Teehee! We're gonna go to the car show this weekend and next weekend he'll get them at his family Bday celebration. I'm such a good wifey. Enjoy the pics!

HUGE Announcements

Tomorrow I start a hardcore diet. I joined Weight Watchers again. Last time I did Weight Watchers I lost 30 pounds in time to meet the love of my life and get married. Now a year and a half and one bouncing baby girl later I am back to where I started adding about 15 pounds. I want to get in shape for our next trip down pregnancy lane and well as develop the healthy habits to share with Rory. I want her to have a healthy mom who has a healthy relationship with food. That starts tomorrow. I have 32 points daily and 35 weekly splurge points. Check out my progress at crusinforlosin.blogspot.com.

Second HUGE announcement is that Ry found a permanent job! Ok, so it's temporary for 90 days but after that it could be permanent. It's at an American Fork company called Twin Labs and he does maintenance on their capsule making machines and pretty much around the whole facility. They have him working some crazy hours right now. He works 6 PM to 6AM seven days a week. We miss him terribly at home, but we know that this is only temporary and feel such gratitude for such a steady job in this economy. I am so grateful for my hardworking hubby and love him so so much!

Rory is growing faster every day. She is now 6 months old and can sit up by herself. She is now the proud owner of two teeth. She weighs 18.6 and is 28 inches tall. She laughs all the time now and is such a great joy to her father and I.

Finally I want to share my gratitude for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We had stake conference last weekend and the adult session focused heavily on family history. The church has released a new familysearch website to help people like me who do not have much to go on. I can't wait until I can start exploring this resource and aid in "gathering my family safely in."

Blessings, Blessings, and More Blessings!

I haven't written in a while, I don't really have a great excuse. I have been busy tho. So here's the news.

I got a stay-at-home job! Lindsey, my sister-in-law, told me that her company BidSync was hiring. I put in an application and went into the interview. I honestly didn't know if this was Heavenly Father's will or not so I just prated that His will be done no matter what and that I could just present myself in the best light possible. Well, this must be Heavenly Father's will because I got the job the very next day. It's part time, online and I make pretty decent money. This position affords my family a little breathing room in case Ryan ever loses his job again. The work is great and I love what I'm doing. Rory isn't a fan of having to entertain herself for 4-5 hours a day but she's adjusting.

I have also gotten in touch with my foster family once more. The Grotelueshen's were such an important part of my life and now we are in almost daily contact once more. I'm especially glad that I am able to talk to Jennifer, my older foster sister. We were so close when we lived together and I always regretted losing contact and I've missed her.

Halloween was awesome!! Loralei was an Auburn Tiger! I put some pictures in from our "Halloween Photoshoot." She didn't quite no what it was about and fell asleep halfway through but she was adorable. Next year we're gonna carve pumpkins and really do it up!

We' been reading the Book of Mormon every nite to fulfill our Bishop's challenge to us to read it before the end of the year. It has really changed the Spirit in our home and I'm so grateful for it's influence in our lives. We have been so amazingly blessed and we've also been able to weather the heartaches of life much more because of it's teachings. It brings me so much close to my Savior to read about a people that looked forward to His coming to hundreds of years and preached of His awesome redeeming power long before He was born on this Earth. I love the Book of Mormon and I'm honored to know of it's truth and greatness.

I will try to be better about writing more often. Oh! If you get a chance you need to to read the Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins Such good books! The third does not come out until 2010 so I am warning you now there is a HUGE cliffhanger. As always I would love any and all comments!

Musings of a Stay At Home Mom

These past few weeks have been what being a stay-at-home mom is all about. Loralei can roll over from front to back and now back to front. It's the end of my little non mobile caterpillar. Now I have to keep an eye on her whenever I put her down. Also, she knows that soon she will be able to do more so she gets pretty frustrated just rolling around. She makes me laugh. Here's a picture of frustrates for Rory.



I have been back at reading again. I love to read and I have read some pretty good books recently. I read The Android's Dream by John Scalzi. This isn't my normal fare but that may change. It was a engrossing read set in the future with diplomatic and interplanetary intrigue. I loved the characters who were both humble, witty, and innovative. I would suggest this book to people who want a break from romance for awhile! Also I read The Magician's and Mrs. Quent which was like a fantasy novel mingled with Jane Austen. I really liked the characters and I am looking forward to the rest of the series.

I've been looking for a creative hobby, something that is cheap for me to do and would be both rewarding and engrossing. I'm thinking maybe doing Origami. I think it would be pretty and hey its paper and a book right? Maybe I'll start with the paper and then check out a book from the library. American Fork Library rocks!

Rory Roo is ready to get up from her nap so I must go fetch her.