Easter

Happy Easter (late)!!! The boys had a lot of fun. This is the first year we did anything major to celebrate. Last year we had an easter egg hunt for Jax in the yard, but he was all by himself and it wasn't anything great. This year we went to an easter egg hunt/potluck with about 15 families on Saturday. It was a lot of fun and both Jax and Jake loved finding the eggs... of course, the candy inside was the best part. Jake never knew he could have so much candy in such a short amount of time... of course, most of the candy he had... he snuck when I wasn't looking! I even found him with a Hershey's kiss in his mouth- foil wrapper and all! On Sunday, the boys got Easter egg baskets, first time ever, after they naps after church. I didn't do it first thing in the morning because church starts at 9 and it is normally a struggle to get there on time... I didn't want to throw candy and fun into the mix! Jackson had a rough time at church but that is another post all together! Yikes. We enjoyed a very yummy dinner with all the good stuff... ham, green bean casserole, rolls, mashed potatoes... soooo good, and of course, ate way too much. I recorded some videos, but for some reason they won't upload and I don't know why. Enjoy the pics!

Jake's haircut

I did it. I cut Jake's hair. I was so afraid to because he had such beautiful curls. But it was becoming such a mess, especially after he played really hard! Right after I cut it there were no more curls left... but after about a week, he has curls again! That makes me believe that it really might stay curly. I've been showing Jackson pictures from Megan and Kaylee's blogs so he can recognize his cousins when we all get to Sequim. Whenever he would see Jesse and I'd say "Who's that?" he would say, "Jacob!" I used to think it was because of the curls, but I realized he calls any baby Jacob :) But he can say everyone's name... he struggles with Bryan and Tinian though. It's cute, because he calls Malaya-"Laya".

Before:




After:

Random Pictures

My kids rarely smile in pictures. It is kind of frustrating. They are more interested in seeing the pictures on the other side of the camera, so it's hard to make them hold still as well, they are constantly trying to walk around and see the screen. Here are my best attempts at pictures... some are especially random.






This is the boys' favorite blanket... which they are no longer allowed to play with because they fight over it and end up getting hurt. Jackson put it over his head once and Jake stood on the other end... Jax ended up falling back and hitting his head really hard on that coffee table. OUCH!


This is Jake's doing. That is part of the barstool. The ends come off and yes, that is an animal cracker stuck in there. It doesn't look like it's in there very far and it's not, but it is right behind the bolt so I can't slide it out and the space is too small for 2 fingers to grasp it. After he did that, I decided I needed a pair of tweezers to get it out and then I got distracted and never got it. I had forgotten all about it til now. Good thing I am writing this post about it...


Ah, my Jacob baby! He loves ice cream almost as much as his big brother... too bad Daddy is polluting his mind and teaching him that pistachio ice cream is yummy! That's what flavor used to be in that cone!

"Rachelle!"

Luis and I were upstairs at the computer and we hear a little voice from downstairs calling "Rachelle! Rachelle! Come down stairs!" hahahahaha!!! Jackson apparantly knows my name :) It was so cute to hear him say that... my response was... "Hey- you call me Mommy!"

3 days down...

...and I can't move. It took me about a full 2 minutes to crawl into bed last night! BUT I LOVE IT! My body hurts, but feels really good at the same time. As Luis and I say... you know you got a good work out when it hurts to sit on the toilet :) Or any hard surface for that matter! You know what I mean right??? Tomorrow is Yoga X and I am terrified! How am I supposed to hold a yoga position with such extremely sore muscles? The routine is an hour and a half long, so bring it on!!! When I was in high school I was working on Saturdays at a gym teaching kickboxing classes right before I went to college. One time, my boss was going on vacation and she asked me to participate in a yoga class to see if I could teach it for her while she was away. I did the class... my decision??? HECK NO, I can't teach that, I could barely do it! That was the one and only experience I have had with yoga. I do have an at home pilates dvd... but it's not the same. Say a little prayer for me... da da da da da da...

Bring it on P90X!!!!

Today was Day 1 of P90X. For those of you who don't know, it is an extreme at-home fitness program.



Check it out at http://www.beachbody.com/product/p90x.do?tnt=P90X_RT_B2

Luis tried it last year and got through several weeks of it, with noticable differnces, but when Jake was born, it got lost among the many other things going on. I've been dying to do it because I have 10 pounds of baby weight. Now, don't go getting all judgemental and telling me I shouldn't be worried about my body and I am still skinny and all that and I shouldn't be working out so hard. I have heard that so much in the past and it is really discouraging. I get that. I feel very fortunate to have a healthy body, but I also realize that I could be in better shape. I don't compare myself with any other person, just my old self! I have been running on the treadmill off and on, but nothing consistent enough to make a difference in my appearance. So, here are my goals... I currently weight 137 and my goal weight is 125, my pre-pregnancy (Jake) weight. If I can get to 120 that would be awesome but with building the muscle I don't know if I can hit that. In other words, I just want to weigh less than Danny, my brother in law, who is a whopping 130 pounds at 23 years old :P

Like I said, we started today and I love it! I will hate it tomorrow, but I love it today! We are doing the "Lean" version, which is different than the regular version... it is said to be just as difficult, just with different goals. The regular version focuses more on building muscle and bulking while the lean version focuses on maximum weight loss. There is also a "doubles" version for crazy people who want to do the routine 2x per day! About halfway through the routine this morning I was thinking "I thought this was supposed to be extreme, this isn't that bad!" Well, by the time the workout was over, I thought I was going to throw up. Really... I didn't do very much of the stretching because there was no way I was going to bend over and put my head to my knees, I'd have puked for sure! I did some alternative stretches that I hope compensate so I am not extra sore. It was pretty intense, but manageable. Now, I'm sure the trick is doing this every day with the soreness of the previous days! It is a 6-day a week program and each workout is about an hour with a few exceptions and the routine changes every day. It is so awesome! Everyone should try it at least once in their lives! You don't have to keep their pace, just do what you can... that's the key! Anyways, we need to make sure and get to bed ontime because Luis and I are waking up at 6am to do this, before the kids get up. My body is very tired but I feel really good. Can't wait for tomorrow. We took "before" pictures and they are very motivating! Can't wait for some killer "after" pictures! I'll keep you updated on our progress.

Miscellaneous

Where to begin...?

Ok, Jackson's awful eating habits. Jackson refuses to eat sometimes, and I refuse to let him be a picky eater. I am Mom, he eats what I tell him too... that is how we roll! :) Luis is 100% supportive. So in the past, we made him sit at the table until he finished his food... could be hours, that kid is so stubborn. Well, the other night I was talking with Liz and she said that in her pediatrics unit they teach a specific technique. She said that if he doesn't eat during the meal-time, take the food away and don't give any other food until the next meal-time... meaning no snacks. I thought that was perfect for Jackson because if he doesn't eat, he is still asking for snacks, which I usually give him just to end the nagging. You other mom's do it to, I know! So, we bought a kitchen timer to establish how long we would consider "meal-time" and give Jax a visual of how long he has to eat. Today is our first day testing this out. Luis made scrambled eggs and black beans for breakfast. 25 minutes on the clock... plenty of time in my opinion! He ate one bite and then refusted the rest. He sat there for the other 24 minutes and... DING!!! So I took the food away and all morning he was asking for snacks!!! I of course said no and at lunch time, I gave him the very same plate of eggs and beans that I had saved from breakfast... (we try not to be food wasters!) and again, he refused after 1 bite. So, after 25 minutes on the timer... I took the food away again. It is currently in the fridge where he can have it for dinner at 6pm with no food until then!!! I can't believe he didn't eat it at lunch. I know he is going to be begging me for a snack, but he really needs to learn to eat at mealtime so I'm not giving it to him... I'm in for a long day, but as of right now, he seems fine. I imagine his tummy will start rumbling soon.



Next, this was just a funny thing I noticed. What is that in my children's toy box??? Yep, it's a Victoria Secret gift card!!! Funny place for it to end up, huh :) It made me laugh when I saw it. Becky bought some clothes from VS for Christmas... normal, everyday clothes... she's not married and she's a good girl. Isn't that right, Becky? :)

It's that time of year...

When I stop making my baby wear pants and all my family calls me and asks "why aren't your kids ever wearing pants in the pictures..." (if history repeats itself)... and the answer is because it is just too dang hot to run around inside wearing pants when a diaper covers everything just as well! I don't take them in public like that, just at home. So there, now no one needs to call or leave a comment asking why from now until October, Jake prob won't be wearing pants :)



Also, Lew bought these cute pjs for the boys last week on clearance. Although it is already hot, I just had to have them sleep in them at least once. Jake wore top and bottom to bed and was fine... but Jax was sweating before he even went to bed, so I let him sleep in the pants with a t-shirt. Had to take a picture though, just for proof that they did at least wear them once. He bought them in big sizes so they will still fit this winter.