Macy Jane at 2

My baby is 2, my baby is 2. How is this even possible? I love this baby girl more than anything, and make no mistake....she will always be my baby. I've said this plenty of times before: Macy is not the easy girl baby that I was expecting. Emi was the easiest baby on the planet, or maybe she just seemed that way after Parker, but seriously. Macy is the complete opposite, and I have really grown to love the differences in the two. They do happen to have the same smile right now....teeth going in and teeth going out.

This flower appeared a couple days before Macy was born. Being crazy emotional and pregnant, I was in tears everytime I saw this rose because I knew my little pink flower was coming soon. It popped up again on Macy's 1st birthday, and here again for her 2nd. Awwww....

We had a little party for her on Sunday. It was ALL Elmo because "Melmo" is her favorite creature on the planet. She was perfect! She has been a "terrible two" for awhile now (such an overachiever), so I'm glad she was happy, sweet, and wonderful at her party. I cannot get this to not underline...don't know why.

(Don't you love the chip on the side of her mouth?)

Best Elmo cake ever.....however, I've had "Elmo's Revenge"in her diapers all day today. I know, TMI.

She's athletic. Macy loves sports.

And sweeping. She knocks over everything with my broom, so I'm hoping this helps.

What I love about my Macy right now:

She attaches herself to tons of stuff. This is her going to naps: 3 binkies (1 for the mouth, 2 for hands), 2 pigs, and Thomas the Tank Engine.

She loves to take her purple Kindermusik bag everywhere because she wants a "bacbac" like her siblings.

When she gets mad, she sticks the top of her head on the ground and lifts her bum in the air.

She calls horses (her new favorite animal) "Neighs"

Macy will not sit in a grocery cart right now....sigh.

When asked what Mommy says, she says"La, La, La" with a little head bop.

Loves to cuddle before bed. She hasn't always wanted to, so I'm eating it up.

Most used word lately..."Mine".

She can run a dump truck in the dance studio faster than anyone.

Every seat in the house is Macy's. Dinner is kind of a musical chair situation.

She is perfect and horribly hard all wrapped up in the world's cutest toddler.

I love you, Macy!

Before and After...LAUNDRY ROOM EDITION

I truly have painted or redone most of my house in the 12 years I have lived in it. However, my laundry/stair area has been so very neglected. My cousin Brooke has been wondering when I would post these, but I've been hesitant because I still don't have my laundry countertop. Who cares? I'll post a pic later.

May I say.......I'm so, so much happier!

This paint was an experiment. Nice for awhile, but I'm over it. The linoleum was a nice touch, don't you think?

My coat and shoe situation was a joke. 4 kids x 3-4 coats each=chaos.

The whole world ended up on my dryer (ha,ha....I didn't even put the globe there for the joke. It was already there). The biggest part was knocking the closet out, but Parker thoroughly enjoyed being the demolition crew.

And now.....here is the final product. Without the countertop.

I cannot tell you how much these lockers have changed my life. It's really sad how much I love them. I can store ski helmets, bike crap...EVERYTHING!

I wanted my laundry area to be beachy so that I could be happy when I did laundry.

So...there you go. I'm happy.....however, now I'm on to a bathroom and a kitchen next summer. Watch out.

Excuses

(that WAS me back in the day...cheering at the BYU/Notre Dame game in 1994. I'm really showing my age by the old Cosmo costume and the Smurf, blueberry uniforms. This was also the last year that we had to have those awful alien cap sleeves on our uniforms. You can thank Elder Bruce Hafen for letting us remove them, but that is a post for another day)

Back in the day....I was in shape. Very in shape. It was the nature of my life. I danced, cheered, rehearsed, and taught aerobics upwards of 12 hours a day. I ate as I pleased and was burning it off quickly. I didn't appreciate it then....I was so sure that I was overweight and sloshy. Spending your days with dancers and cheerleaders, my version of a healthy body image was a bit skewed.

But, since Macy's arrival almost 2 years ago, I've been soft. I work out, but not consistently enough for good results. It's been a great source of annoyance and frustration to me.

I feel like I have a lot of barriers to total fitness. I know. I usually hate excuses. So I'm going to throw them out there and find ways to get around them. Not a pity party, just the reality of why I can't get it together at this season of life.

My excuses:

1- Pain. I have crazy bad back pain ever since college. It's in my center back and it's because I have two muscles that are "dying". It stops me from doing a lot. Have done acupuncture, chiropractors, massage, PT, you name it. It doesn't help.

2- Time. I have 4 young kids (1 with time-consuming special needs like homework), run a business by myself, house maintenance, and a husband. Bill has been training for LoToJa and I'm so proud of him. It's taking an immense amount of time to train and with him also gone so much for bishopric things, there is nothing left for me. He is also aware of this and promises to help me get back on track when it's over. I used to have a gym membership with daycare, which I put on hold because I literally cannot get there with my kids crazy schedule.

3-Guilt. The daycare thing is also hard because I already have sitters during the week while I work. Makes me feel like a bad mommy.

4-Motivation. I do get in really good workout habits. I will get in patterns where I run a lot, or do p90x at home, but I haven't seen results. This makes me throw in the towel because my time is so short as it is that I feel like I'm wasting it.

5-I dance....a lot. Exercise, yes. But not a ton of cardio involved when I start and stop so much while teaching. Plus, it leaves me tired and I'm so not in the mood to workout at night after teaching 4 classes.

6- Four pregnancies has changed my body. I will never be skinny again. Things just expand, like my ribcage (?!) and hips. You are never the same. Good thing I love my kids.

7- Kid food. My kids are pretty darn healthy, but there are still cookies and such lying around. And I'm the first to admit that I have NO will power. I have to eat better than I do. This also goes back to the lack of time issue. I grab quick, often-unhealthy things.

There they are....my excuses for not being perfectly in-shape right now. I had to get them out there. Maybe seeing them in print will help me find a way around these barriers so that I can reactivate the "old Liz". Wish me luck and PLEASE tell me what you all do to find time to fit it all in. I'm desperate!

Look who's 40!

Bill is! As I mentioned before, we decided to throw a little bash for Bill. He didn't want the classic "over the hill" black balloon type of party, but rather a "Halfway to the 80's Prom". I wish I could credit myself for the idea, but my brother did the same thing a year earlier.

There is no bigger fan of the 80's than Bill. A few months into our marriage, there was a show on VH1 called "Musical Jeopardy". I truly could not believe how much knowledge Bill had on every aspect of 80's music. He knew obscure band members, names, years music came out, all from the 80's. I'm not actually making fun of him right now.....I was truly impressed.

So...back to the party. We rented out an old church rec hall in Sandy. It's not a typical church rec hall, and it really looked like an old high school gym. However, we were under the impression that it had air conditioning. Yeah...it didn't. And we were in a heat wave last week. Luckily, we have a lot of friends willing to bring their fans. So it was hot, but oh so fun. I won't even mention the new coat of varnish they stuck on the floor earlier in the week which made it hot AND smelly, but whatever.

Bill had so much fun coming up with a playlist for the night. I love that he was more of a new wave/slightly punk type of 80's guy and not a hair band guy. We danced, people displayed old prom pics, 80's trivia (which I will post later), atari games, prom pics, Ferris Bueller running non-stop and good Costco cake.

I think the best was the outfits. Our hairdresser friend ratted Bill's hair and used a curling iron to really create the desired look. Most of our dear friends dressed for it, of which I'm so glad! Sadly, many of our closet friends were off to the Bear Lake triathalon and other trips, so we really missed them. I wish I could post everyone's pictures, but I'm losing my steam tonight. All I can say is we had a blast and a we LOVE all of you great friends that could come!

Sean and Ashley

Lisa and Jim

Angela and Josh

Yea...that's my bishop and sister bishop =-)

Mitch and Mary

Natalie, the hairdresser

Monika and Chip...Chip has mad dance skills that he shares freely. Probably from all his years as the Brighton High Bengal.

Cutest cousins ever, Ashley and Brooke.

Bodacious, Awesome, Gag me with a Spoon, and Gnarly!