Another Zoo Trip

In the beginning of April, both Casey and I actually had a day off together where no one needed to sleep (amazing these days), so we decided to have a family outing to the zoo. It was a beautiful day!

A lot of the animals were out in great view for us. I have never seen the gorilla this active and the tigers were really close to the plexi glass.

The kids were all in a great mood.

Maizy loves the playground so she can explore everything.

Zander had a blast wandering around.

Zoey hung out on the slide mostly.

She has turned into a real monkey climbing on everything.

Maizy even talked us into going on the train.

She was in 7th heaven.

I love when my kids are happy and not fighting/whining. We had a fun day.

Grandpa Dick

Richard Heber "Dick" Wilde, 89, of St. George passed away on May 2, 2010 at the George E. Wahlen Ogden Veterans Home in Ogden, Utah. He was born in Coalville, Utah, February 17, 1921, to Willard Heber and Ella Spackman Hall Wilde.

He graduated from North Summit High School in 1939, and was selected to that year's All-State Basketball team. He remained active in sports throughout his life, including basketball, baseball, golfing, and hunting and fishing. He was an avid fan of Jazz basketball and BYU/UU sports.

His life was filled with close friends and cherished associates. He married Betty Rollins at Salt Lake City on June 27, 1941. They were later divorced. He married Wilda Walker Birch in Reno, Nevada on November 16, 1972.

He served in the 96th Army Infantry Division in World War II, and went ashore in Okinawa with the initial landing force on April 1, 1945. He was awarded a Purple Heart, was advanced to the rank of Staff Sergeant, and received an honorable discharge. Service to his country was a defining theme throughout his life.

Following the war, he worked for the Ideal Cement Company at Devil's Slide, Utah for 32 years. He is survived by two sons, Glenn (Anne) Wilde, of St. George; Douglas (Robin) Wilde of Coalville, six grandchildren, 18 great-grand children, and one sister, Judith (Sheldon) Crittenden. He is preceded in death by both his wife Wilda; his former wife Betty, his parents; and two sisters, Virginia Pace and Josephine Knowlton.

The family thanks the staff at George E. Wahlen Ogden Veterans Home; St. George Care and Rehabilitation and Bristol Hospice for the sensitive and humane end of life care given Richard. The family also thanks the Coalville American Legion Post 93. Family and friends are invited to a viewing to be held from 6:00-8:00 p.m., Thursday, May 6, 2010 at the Stake Center in Coalville Utah. A graveside service for Richard will be held at the Coalville Cemetery on Friday, May 7, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. Arrangements are under the direction of Goff Mortuary.

Kids just hanging out

My kids were being a pain in the butt today, so when they were actually being cute I had to take a picture so I could remind myself why I love being a mother and why I love them so much.

Kittens

So quite a while ago, a stray cat adopted my mom. I should be used to this as this was a common occurrence growing up. My parents really haven't had animals for a while, but they seemed excited about this cat. We soon found out that she had babies. When we found them, they were quite large already and very skittish. To this day, we still cannot get very close to them without them darting away. The mom cat has gotten used to my parents and has warmed up to my mom enough over the last few months that she is now very trusting. A little while ago, my mom noticed her belly was very large. Next thing we know, she disappeared. A few days later, she led my mom to her hideout where my mom heard tiny meows. Oh boy, kittens!

(Tomcat)

A few days later (kittens just over a week old...we think), the mom cat brought them to my parents house...all 3 cute kittens. My dad got busy immediately building them a house out of wood that would be warm for the new kittens. We made the decision we would keep one. We have been letting the kid play with them practically every day so they could get used to them. Night before last, we brought all 3 kittens in our basement to start weaning them from their mother. So far so good. All 3 are eating solid food and drinking without problems and we believe all 3 are now using the kitty litter box. Yay!!!

(Tigger-Maizy's favorite and the one we will keep)

We are still only keeping 1...at least that is my hope, although Casey continues to try to convince me otherwise. Maizy has now chosen names for all 3 and has picked her favorite to keep. We have Tinkerbell (the only girl), Tomcat and Tigger (Maizy's favorite). Casey has build a nice large area for them to play around in. My kids go insane around them. I sometimes fear for those little kittens. I guess the only way for my kids to learn is to practice and hopefully the kittens survive 3 crazy children.

(Tinkerbell)

Zander turns 18 months

I realize that this day occurred over 2 weeks ago, but I have been waiting for his doctor checkup to give the full update, which didn't occur until the 1st.

Zander continues to be a cute, but busy boy. He is just as big of a troublemaker as his sisters (they have taught him well). He continues to amaze us everyday. He is saying more words daily and is much better as copying what we say that Zoey was at his age. He LOVES to climb on and get into everything. We have child proofed and locked as much as possible, but he still finds ways. It is always scary when you walk into the kitchen and find your 18 month old holding a knife that he got out of the dishwasher. Needless to say, we now have a lock on the dishwasher....as well as the freezer, most doors, and some cupboards/drawers. There are scratches and dings in my brand new walls from Zander knocking down the gates because they were preventing him from getting somewhere and there is a nice round indention in Maizy's wall from who knows what. All I know is Casey told me Zander was crying and when he went in the room, he found the dent. He is a lovey child as all my kids seem to be. He will follow us around the house crying just because he wants to be picked up and held for a few minutes. He loves to sit on our lap-as long as he has some entertainment, and he is excellent at giving kisses (so cute). He is still a little bow-legged, but that seems to be improving.


He is my big boy. He is moving into some 3T clothes as 2T's are starting to get a little tight. We may have to roll sleeves and legs a little, but otherwise they fit great. The doctor told me to start an exercise routine with him and get him outside as soon as the weather gets good enough. I told her he runs around the house with his sisters as much or more than he would outside. If any of you have seen this kid, he doesn't have a roll on him anywhere...he is just pure SOLID! He may weigh more than most kids his age, but he is also taller than most kids his age with a bigger head too. I understand where my doctor is coming from. Childhood obesity is a real problem, but I don't think Zan is heading there.

Stats:
Height-35.43 inches which is the 99% (off the curve according to the graph)
Weight-33.25 lbs which is the 99% (off the curve according to the graph)
OFC- 19.6 inches which is the 93% (still on the curve but barely)

What can I say, we grow big stock around here.
He is a healthy and happy boy, and that is all I can ask for.

My Journey: Part Four-Frustration!

I have never been one to enjoy exercising...NEVER! This new routine was very difficult for me. There is nothing more boring that standing in one place sweating to death, even despite having a television in front of me. I start watching the time on the eliptical wondering how much longer I have to endure the torture. It is so frustrating to be working so hard and not seeing results. Just when you are about ready to throw in the towel and be fat for the rest of your life, you see a pound or two fade away. It gives you just enough hope that you keep going...and then those one or two pounds join you again. What?!? I didn't change anything! I didn't pig out! I am going up on the amount of time I exercise...why am I gaining? There were days that I just about chucked the scale out the window. What an emotional roller coaster.

To try to spice things up, I borrowed new exercise videos from friends (thanks ladies...you know who you are). Talk about feeling like an idiot. It took quite a few tries to get those routines down-let's just say I am not a dancer and never will be. I am soooo glad my kids are the only ones who have seen me do those videos.

Slowly a few more pounds disappeared. I am sure that the pounds would have gone quicker had I decided to do a diet, but that is another one of my 4 letter words. I have tried to diet before, but for some reason I don't do well. For some reason...listen to me...I know the reason...I LOVE FOOD!!! Exercising is a good start along with trying to watch my portions. As for now, I have not taken anything away from my diet, I just limit the amount. One thing I have learned about myself over the years is that if I take something away completely, I want it more and end up splurging like crazy which in the end is worse than letting me have it to begin with. Crazy-I know!

After many fluctuations in weight, I am happy to say that I have lost 30 pounds-or as I like to say, I am back to pre-Maizy weight. I currently am sitting at 215, and I know my journey is definitely not done. I have more than that left to go, but it is a good start for the last 6 months. My friend Mandy has been asking me when I am going to buy new clothes. When I get below 200, I will get me new clothes. That is a goal for now!!!

My Journey: Part Three (with a 4 letter word)

4-letter words are, as you know, words that are usually bad words. Well, one of my "4-letter" words is exercise. Yes, I know it is more than 4 letters, but it still fits into the same category. Unfortunately with my birthday just around the corner, the word exercise had to become part of my daily vocabulary whether I liked it or not.

I started slowly...not because I wanted to, but because it is all I could do! 5 minutes on my elliptical was pure torture. It had me winded so badly. That told me pretty quickly just how bad of shape I truly was in. Since it was summer, I tried running outside early mornings on the high school track. With how out of shape I was, I had exercise induced asthma and would come home hacking, coughing and wheezing. It was horrible. Needless to say, I stopped running outside and continued at home. I am hoping to venture back outside this summer to see if that has improved.

245! No this is not the time of day. It is not the oven temp for a meal. It is not our house address either. It was my top weight and a place I never imagined I would be. Although it is hard to say that outrageous number out loud, I need myself to see it. I had scheduled myself for my annual woman appointment near my birthday. Although it is definitely NOT what I would call a great birthday present to myself, it is a great reminder each year that it needs to be done. I had started exercising prior to the doctor appt, but hadn't made much progress yet. My doctor has always told me to be careful with my weight because of the PCOS and how difficult
it is to get it off. One of his first questions was if I had been exercising. When I said yes, he asked how many days a week. In response to my saying 5, he said 7. 7 days a week, really??? I didn't think you were suppose to exercise 7 days a week. Obviously my doctor thought I had a lot to get rid of. So the journey of 7 days a week started.

Over the next several months, I slowly worked up on the amount of time I exercised. For the most part, 7 days a week is what I did, but there were occasional times that I could only fit in 5 or 6. I was proud of myself. I was actually following through with a pretty routine exercise regimen.