This Chicken Tastes Soapy

In addition to making chicken and potatoes last night, Brody joined me and took a bath in the kitchen sink at the same time. Multi-tasking mama right here.

Big and Stinky

Little Buddy is now 18 stinkin' months old. I can't believe it. I don't feel old enough to even have a child, let alone an 18 month old. Our visit at Dr. Church's went well. He is 24 lbs (20%), 34 inches (90%), and 49 cm head circumference (80%). Again, tall and skinny with a big head where he always is on the growth charts. Dr. Church again says, "typical breastfed baby." He met all of the two year old development milestones except for verbalization. I think I ruined him with sign language. He will say "mama," "dada," a "daaaa" sound for dog and another "daaaaa" sound for done. That's about it. He will sign please, thank you, share, friend, candy, cookie, boat, banana, eggs, and some letters and numbers. Brody loves to read stories, when HE is in the mood for it. If you try and force reading on him it lasts about 20 seconds and he is gone doing something else. He has a temper and is learning to be sassy. When he doesn't get what he wants he will stomp his feet, lay on the ground, and pout. I have been very stern about no biting and hitting lately and it seems to be working better. I practice the Supernanny time-out method. Not that I'm against spanking, because really I'm not...but I don't think it's right to hit or bite your child for punishment while at the same time telling them the reason why you are punishing them is because they hit and bite. He gets one warning in a calm stern voice while looking in each others eyes. Then if he continues to bite/hit he goes into his crib for 1 minute, by himself, no one else in the room. At 1 minute I come back in, explain why he was put in time out, ask him to say sorry and then we exchange a hug. He seems to be a quick learner. I spank him when he does naughty things though =).

In other news, Blake quit his job. As many of you know he has been in Rexburg, Idaho the last 9+ months working on a project. I didn't advertise the fact that he was out of town because I didn't want people to know that many days I was home alone. The investor/owner of the company he worked for wanted to develop 19 4-plexes in Idaho Falls. This would have been a 2-3 year project. After much fasting, praying, pondering, thinking we decided that it wasn't the right decision for him to continue to be spending Monday-Thursday in Idaho and only with us on the weekends, or for us to move to Idaho Falls. We are now self-employed. Welcome to the world of SCARY absolute FEAR! If it wasn't that I knew with all my soul that this is what Blake is supposed to be doing right now, I would be freaking out. Since we met 5+ years ago he has always talked about owning and running his own business, this is now his opportunity to make it work. So...for any construction needs: New building projects, remodels, commerical/residential, concrete, anything call Blake Hall! 801-317-3943. Licensed, bonded and insured. We would like to eat and have light and water. So call him!

And a Namaste to You

I have lost the baby weight thanks to an ancient diet secret. Are you ready? Shhh don't tell anyone...Here it goes: "Eat Less, Move More." My move more exclusively consists of Yoga practice. I love it. It is addicting. It's practically like doing cocaine (I think...). My sister is WAY better than I am and she is the one who got me into it. I'm not much for the chanty, chime ringing, feeling mother earth beneath your feet types of yoga but an active, power, flow yoga. We go to the Sportsplex in Kaysville. Our instructors are amazing. These are my favorite poses.

The Chaturanga Dandasana. This is part of your sun salutations and you do like 15 or so of these a class. When I first started I had to do them from my knees but now I can hover for awhile without touching the ground.

The head stand. Classic. Love it. As long as I double my mat I really don't even need to use the wall to support myself and legs when going up. When I started yoga the only thing I could do with this pose is laugh and snicker at others in the room while they did the pose.

Shoulder stand. For some reason when you keep your neck in a neutral position this feels awesome on your back. I feel like I'm 6 feet tall in this pose.

I put the King Pigeon on because I can't do it yet. Alyson, my sister, amazing. The teacher every class comments about how well she can do this pose. I'm almost there with one arm supporting, not both, and definetely not my head with it.

This one, I don't even know what it's called, but I find that I don't look as good as the girl in the picture when I do it. You also won't find me wearing a red bikini to yoga class either. This pose is iffy week to week if I can hold it or not. If I've worked a 12 hour shift that day and then go to class, absolutely not.

Another favorite. Love standing arm balances. I did this one last night and held it for like 30 seconds. I felt strong. Thank you very much.

The scorpion. Aly and I attempt this every week. She can hit it about 90% of the time. I'm about 60%. I have to use the mirror/wall to help me balance. It is a beautiful pose if you can get it. I think I've only had one minor seizure trying to accomplish this pose.

Although I consider myself a pretty seasoned yoga participant. I still think sometimes I look like this.

A Trip to Idaho Not Ending in the Emergency Room

A couple of weekends ago we went to just outside of Preston Idaho snowmobiling/4 wheeling. We had a great time and did not end up with a large hospital bill so I think it was a pretty positive experience. Brody LOVED it. Every minute! I am not one for snowmobiling so much because I don't like the cold but he soaked up every second of it. I think he liked being with his dad for one thing and whizzzing around on the snowmobile.

Grandpa bought Brody the snowsuit and after being bundled up the cold wasn't even an issue. The helmet is because I'm a "mean mom who makes her child be safe." Thank you Blake.We, I mean Brody, cleaned the floor in the living room. We moved all the furniture to the outside of the room so the most surface area could be cleaned at one time. What a good helper, again!

We love it when friends come over to play. I can only be so entertaining as a mother, it's fun when CJ comes. Brody needs to learn how to play better with other children. Less hitting, and biting.