Happy Halloween....

From Henry and Fiona...

Our little garden Gnomes...

It was one of the best things I have ever seen. We could HARDLY squeeze Henry into his. Tomorrow Cortney is going to do a photo shoot of the babies together in their costumes. I can't wait. They would both smile SO BIG when they would see their reflections int he mirror.

We didn't really want to take the babies out in the rain so they spent their night doing stuff like this...

Henry looks enormous in this picture.

They somehow found the bowl of candy and tried almost every sucker...sorry trick or treaters. hahaa

These two babies are starting to get into a lot of trouble. I can't believe just last year they were...

We had a great night and the rain managed to stop long enough for our kids to make a killing as far as candy goes. I can't believe how big they seemed tonight. You should have seen Rob running from house to house. I guess he can run.

Happy birthday Bea...I thought of you all day. I would have rather been running around with you tonight that is for sure.

Halloween

I have known forever that Rob has some health issues. Nothing serious at all but the boy ALWAYS has a stuffy nose, cough, he snores and it is really hard for him to get better after feeling sick. Plus if you hear him talk he has a stuffy voice. I have always wanted to take him into a ear nose and throat specialist...but I don't know...I have been too lazy I guess. But with school, I have to get this boy figured out. He feels horrible every morning and it makes it very hard for him to get up and get to school.

Well this year we happen to have insurance (yay for us hahaha). And because Cortney got hit by that car we have also reached our out of pocket maximum. Which means we have got to get all the medical stuff done we have ever needed.

Today bright and early Robbie got his nose scoped with a fiber optic camera. The doctor (who I LOVED...she was amazing, if you ever need someone)...said he has ENORMOUS adenoids...which I knew was going to be the case. She is going to get the boy breathing better...which thrills me to death.

Me and Henry this morning...I made him dress up as a spider because he was going with Cali to her school parade. Fiona and He have different matching costumes that I will break out tomorrow. This spider Tyson wore when he was 1 so I guess that makes it 9 years old. WOw. I love whatever it is that he is doing with his face.

Rob waiting to get the scope.

After his appointment I was running around like crazy getting the boys dressed up for their big day. They can't wear their costumes to school but have to put them on after lunch. They turned out looking pretty cute.

Rob decided for the 3rd year in a row to be a ghost. I was willing to make him whatever he wanted too...but no he wants to be a ghost. I had to add another layer of fabric underneath to make it long enough...

Rob at school with his friend.

Oliver in the parade.

I almost thought Rob wasn't going to cooperate and be in the parade but he turned it around last minute.

OLiver after I got him dressed.

Rob loves slinky's I bought him the one he is holding after the Dr. He has loved slinky's his whole life.

Creepy right?? I came up with this costume last night.

I did have to get special permission from the principle at the school to use the knife. I couldn't believe he let me use it.

I told Cortney last night ughhh I hate halloween. He said "what that is your favorite holiday"...but let me tell you when kids get older it sure gets stressful...they don't want to be anything that I want...and it is a lot of work to get the costumes all figured out.

good for me...

So I had mentioned before that I was on a diet. It is weird to post on here...but I try to write like no one reads this. And...I will probably gain it all back here soon anyways...

I hate diets. My whole life I have eaten whatever I wanted. 12 pack of croissants from costco...I could polish that off on my own in a day. A whole bag of mini snickers, no problem. I used to get a loaf of cheese bread on my lunch and eat almost the whole thing. I once ate 3 loaded J-Dawgs in one sitting just because they were free and delicious. I never even thought twice about eating that much. I also want to say that I have been really BLESSED with good genes and a high metabolism. It really isn't fair that I can eat whatever and pretty much stay the same. I know I am lucky to have a metabolism that is so high. Oh...plus I am tall so I can really hide weight gain...so I am not trying to complain...but I wanted to fit my clothes again.

I am not one of those moms who has a baby, forgets to eat and looses a bunch of weight while nursing. No...when Henry (all my children really) was born I was insatiable. I would sometimes make 2 desserts a day...I am talking cheesecake and cookies all in one day, and I would polish them off. When I am nursing all I do is read cook books, look at food online, read menus, and plan what I am going to cook next...oh and eat.

All of these things had me packing on the pounds. I swear I was eating like 7000 calories a day. Who knows, it was a lot. I would eat whatever...and I would never EVER think, oh I shouldn't eat that.

So I tried to go on south beach while I was still nursing but it just didn't take. I lost a bunch but right after I was still eating A LOT. And so I pretty much immediately gained it all back. Too many hormones in my body still.

I knew I had to do something once school started. I didn't fit ANY of my clothes and I was uncomfortable pretty much all of the time. Even when I was trying to go to sleep I couldn't get comfy in my puffy body.

I decided to try something new for me...

Eating less.

Imagine that, it actually works. I started the diet very strict, 1 serving of whole grain cereal with fruit for breakfast, 1 serving of cereal plus fruit or veggies for lunch and 1/2 a chicken breast, 1/2 a cup of brown rice, and veggies for dinner . Plus as many fruits and vegetables as I wanted for snacks. Nothing after 7:00 p.m. (which is hard for me...I like to have 2nd dinner around 10:30)

Now 1 serving is almost nothing. I am not exaggerating when I say I was used to eating a lot. Usually I would have 2-3 small bowls of cereal for breakfast. 1 serving with most cereals is 1 cup. I was STARVING. But slowly, slowly it started getting easier.

Right away I lost like 6 pounds in the first week or something crazy like that ( I was eating really unhealthy before). But after that it was 1-2 pounds a week.

The reason I am journaling about that now is I have never stuck to something this long in my life. I have been doing it OVER two months now and I have lost...

wait for it...

17 pounds.

That is TONS, I have never lost that much at once. I am still a little over the weight I was before I had Robbie...but I mostly fit into all my stuff and I and I feel really good. I am at the weight I was before I had Henry so at least I have gotten off all the baby weight. Cortney told me last night it was one of my biggest accomplishments ever...hahaa...which makes me sound pretty pathetic if you don't know me. But if you do know me you know i love food more than just about anything on this great green earth. So for me to eat less for 2 months is really saying something...I have never shown so much self control. Just yesterday I weighed in at my goal weight. I feel pretty proud of myself. Plus I don't feel uncomfortable ALL the time. Which is nice.

I will say Cali told me I am not as fun when I am not eating. She said it takes away a whole aspect of my personality...which is true...usually I am the person that is bringing something delish, or wanting to go out to eat or on a doughnut run or something like that. Cortney agreed. Usually when I am mad he just has to feed me and I am on top of the world. I am not that nice when I am hungry so he really had to suffer through there at the beginning.

That's all...just patting my self on the back. hahaaa

p.s. I wanted to say too that now I am still eating cereal usually for breakfast and lunch and then normal dinner just smaller portion and I stop when I START to get full. If we are eating out I just eat normal but less too.

REno..last part

First off, we are way better around here. Well...at least Rob isn't throwing up. Henry is still pretty sick and I am not kidding or exaggerating has probably only been awake 2 hours all of today. Which is great but really makes it so I can't leave the house. Poor baby. Cortney and I have both been getting cold/hot and feeling weak and just weird. I hate colds. My lesson went pretty good...although i misspelled exercise as EXCERSIZE...real big on the board. You could tell that I was definitely running on fumes.

Finally though the last part of our trip.

Saturday morning Ty and Cortney went fishing. Cortney caught a HUGE fish, I think it was a mirror carp and it was the biggest carp he has ever caught. Which is saying something because I have seen him catch ones bigger than Henry.

When they got back they let me and Nicole go out for some much needed girl time. When I say they "let" us go out that only means they agreed to watch to boys so we could venture out alone. It was awesome.

Nicole and I went to Mimi's because we wanted to have a long sit down breakfast and everywhere else wasn't still serving breakfast. It was delish. We sat and talked and ate and ate. I love Nicole. We really have always gotten along so well...she really is a sister to me. She is the kind of friend that always makes you feel better about yourself...you know the kind...some friends are not that way at all. Whenever I am with her she makes me believe in being cute again. After eating we went over to the mall and man oh man....I had one of the best shopping experiences of my life. We went to a store...everything was on sale, everything fit me perfect and they had tons of stuff that was just my style. Nicole knows how to shop and she knows how to find clothes that look good on my body. She kept saying how she had "never seen me spend money before"...in all of the 8 years we have known each other. That is sad. But boy did it feel good to spend some money. I spent 86.00 dollars and saved 200. it was awesome. We then went back home and she raided her closet and toiletries to send me home with more stuff. All in all I ended up with 2 pairs of pants, 20 tops (sweaters too), a pair of shoes and more hair products then I have had in my whole life combined. I have a whole new wardrobe.

That night we went out to the Gold and Silver Inn. It was on Diner's Drive In's and Dives...and I had wanted to go and try it out. It was so yummy.

Here we are....kind of a bad picture but we didn't want to bring in Cortney's big one. I think this one was part of the dives classification. But...the food was delicious, the food was cheap (5.49 for the kids stuffed pb&j french toast...which was so good) and the staff was SOOO friendly. They kept bringing crackers and such for HennerBens.

I loved this place and was so glad we stopped by.

Reno the biggest little city in the world...it really is...

Then we headed over to the Circus so the boys could see the city lights and one of the shows. The best part was going up and down the glass elevator and then up on top of the roof.

The boys with major red eye waiting for me in the bathroom.

Henry ticked off and tired.

I just kept wanting to scream..."everyone STOP waisting your money". It drove me crazy to see all of these people spending money like crazy. It isn't even gambling in there but just people spending dollar after dollar trying to win a stuffed banana. I am too cheap for that kind of thing. I loved taking the kids to the show however. And we almost won once...

On Sunday we woke up and had homemade hot chocolate and crepes. We lounged around and just enjoyed each other. I was so sad to leave.

Bef0re we left Nicole took the kids outside to get them to burn off their energy. She had them in boot camp...running, push ups, sit ups...jumping jacks and things like that.

tyler...Thanks to Tyler for having us, and showing us such a great time. I know Tyler would do anything for us. I know that without a doubt. Both he and nicole. They are some of our best friends in the world and we are so grateful for them.

on the road again...

At some point in the night Rob was sitting in a booster in the back seat but he laid to the side and his seatbelt wasn't on right and he got twisted around. We pulled over and Oliver un buckled him. Rob was crying so hard and the seat belt was some how wrapped around his waist...so TIGHT. I ran back and couldn't get him out. Cortney came back (Rob and I were both freaking out at this point) to see what he could do. The seat belt was locked up. Nothing we could do would make it budge and it was getting tighter and tighter. We tried lifting him up and pulling it down but no. He couldn't breath. Finally Cortney grabbed a cutco knife that I had brought to cut up apples and he cut the seat belt off of his waist. I said..."this is going to cost a lot of money." and he said "what else are we going to do." so he cut it. All of this happened in seconds. The funny thing was, that when Cortney was packing up the car he kept having a feeling that he should bring his leatherman. He didn't listen to that feeling and didn't bring it. We were all ready to leave...all buckled up and in the car but I ran back inside the house before we left to grab a knife so I could cut the apples. I know that is funny inspiration to have but we were in the middle of nowhere and without of knife I don't know what we would have done.

Robbie was so upset that he messed up the van. I kept telling him it was okay and we can get a new seatbelt.

On the way home Henry was a little better. He cried way less but he was still real sad.

It was a great trip. I was sad to see it and and sad to have to come home and do laundry. haha. We love you Reno!

we're not doing too good around here...

oh my. rob has thrown up 9 (real big) times in the last hour. now henry is up and is also unconsolable. he was crying so hard and cortney was holding him and he kicked cortney in the privates. so then cort was out of commission. it is a real mess. plus i have to teach all of the young women in 9 hours...my lesson topic...preventing disease and physical health...go figure.

1 year

I take a break from posting about Reno to post Henry's 1 year stats. But first a collage of the first year of his life...

Babies grow up so fast yet you can hardly tell they are changing. It amazes me to see the pictures in order like this. He used to be so small.

I have loved having him.

Henry at 1:

5 1/2 teeth.

My pickiest eater so far. He only likes pureed jar baby food. Not even the yummy kinds like lasagna...nope just the stage one single fruit or veggie baby foods. He will have toast or gold fish or sometimes a cookie. He loves popcorn. But I have to FORCE him to try new foods.

He isn't walking yet but will walk across the room with a walker, or walk along the couch. He is just starting to stand up without holding on to something.

He does more tricks than my other babies.

He can do wheels on the bus (he knows which action just by me singing the song...I sing a lot to him...yikes).

If you are happy and you know it.

If I sing dance-y dance-y he will shimmy and dance. (sometimes he will even sing it)

He will say uh-oh.

He waves Bub-bye.

He says dada...who knows if he knows what that means.

He doesn't really say anything but I was trying to teach him the sign language for drink (the kid drinks more water than any baby I have ever seen). I kept doing the sign and saying drink drink. He looked at me annoyed that I wouldn't give him the water bottle and said "drin drin" Cute.

He sleeps tons. I usually put him to bed at 7 and then he wakes up at 8:30. When I say this it means he doesn't get up in the night at all. I don't feed him at all for 13 hours. It is awesome. On a perfect day he goes back to sleep at 10:00 and sleeps until Rob gets home from school around 12. I then put him down again around 1:30 and he sleeps until Oli gets home around 3. Sometimes he even takes a third nap and goes to bed a little later. He loves to sleep. Somedays though I am gone all day and he will just get one nap. On those days he is a DIVA at the store or wherever I am. Fiona is always better than him at the grocery store.

Okay now for his stats.

Weight 23.83 lbs -- 66.53%...he lost weight from last month when I took him in.

Height 30 inches -- 59.14%

Head 18.3 in -- 54.17%

He is a really good boy. Funny and stubborn already.

lake tahoe (the second half)

After hanging out by the beach we went to the Tahoe skatepark. Oliver skated around a little while Rob rode his scooter. We sat and talked and were surrounded by trees. BEAUTIFUL.

Ohhh Oli. He loves to skate...more than anything. He is actually getting pretty good too.

Nic and Ty...such a cute couple. Nicole has amazing hair and is so fun to take pictures of...I mean look at that hair.

Rob being Rob. (I think he was sulking about crashing)

Can you say BEAUTIFUL??

Nic and Ty need a kid. Isn't this picture precious? Minus my big head of course.

I threw this picture in for Tyler...he couldn't get enough of 6 pack McGee. He was nearly obsessed.

Then we headed to Tahoe Doughnuts for some fried goodness. Then on to another beach. It was pretty darn cold but the kids still got in the water. Tyler and Nicole couldn't believe it but I knew that the kids would get in. They love the water. Even Henry got in. Tyler and Nicole were missing their doggie like crazy (I know I didn't want to let it in the new van...mean ashley).

You can tell just how cold it is by looking at Rob...

Just throwing rocks.

Henry wanted in so bad.

My babies have nearly flat profiles...I love it.

I love it when Rob smiles like this.

Wow.

Once again Ty and Nic...making really cute fake parents. You should see nicole gag when it is diaper changing time. hahaa (i love tyler's smile...that is his true smile)

What a beautiful sky. Ty and Nicole...they are pretty obsessed with each other. Which is good of course.

weird panorama Cortney did so there are two Oliver's. But I love how all three of my boys are down there playing.

Then they even got me to hike a little. I couldn't believe it. I even told them before hand no hiking for me. hahaa. No, I like this kind of hiking. The hiking I don't like is the kind that takes all day. I have WAY too short of an attention span for something like that.

Henry, me and Nicole at the top. Yeah we look pretty hot. hahaaa. And no I am not going to let Henry fall of the mountain.

Ty pushing his Tyler pose to the extreme.

I was laying on a bench and Tyler made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. I couldn't stop laughing. I know it doesn't look like it but I was dying.