Brooklyn's 1 year and Laneah's 3 year photos

These were taken by photographer Megan Evans

I Did It!!!!

In the past 7 months I have been eating better and exercising and I have lost 35 lbs! I now weigh a very healthy weight of 125 lbs. I still have some toning to do, but I am very happy to be fitting back into my old clothes. I had to go shopping to get new clothes and it felt great trying on smalls again. So I have had a few requests on how I achieved my weight loss goals. Everyone is different but these are the things that worked for me:

*Track your calories. This is so important. People who track their calories loose twice as much as those who don't. I used myfitnesspal.com, but there are several different sites with tracking tools.

*Have some free days. Dieting doesn't work. If you starve yourself of foods you love, you will binge. You have to eat better and watch your calories, but it doesn't hurt to have cheat days. If you are craving something, give in sometimes.

*Get rid of the junk food. If it is there, you will eat it. Fill your cupboards with healthy snacks. I love chocolate so I got a bunch of the 100 calorie packs and that works just fine. Weight Watchers ice cream is really good too.

*Fast food is ok sometimes, restaurants are not. The food at restaurants is extremely fatty and high in calories. If you have to go for someone's birthday or something, look up the nutritional information beforehand so you know what to get. Most "salads" at restaurants are over 1,000 calories. Tread carefully.

*Exercise. It isn't fun, but its a must. I currently don't go to a gym. I use Jillian Michaels dvds at my house. The only time I have to work out is after the girls go to sleep, so I work out from 9-10 pm.

*Loose slowly. A pound a week is good. If you loose slowly, you are a lot more likely to keep the weight off.

*Stick with it! It is great to look and feel good, but the most important thing is that you are healthy.

Good luck, you can do it:)

Laneah at 3 years, 1 month

 Laneah-isms:


*calls oreos marshmellows

* She calls all people kids, even adults. She is always asking "who are those kids?" 

*"try it, you like it" This is from her favorite show Yo Gabba Gabba. She usually says it in reference to food. She is a good eater and is willing to try almost anything. One of her favorite things to eat is tuna fish, which is pretty strange for a kid, but she loves it.

*"try it, its not scary" She will say this sometimes when you tell her no to something. I guess she thinks you might be scared.

*"guys, I got adea" (idea) She usually holds one finger up and is always really excited to show everyone what her idea is.  

New and Current Things:


*She now has to sleep surrounded by stuffed animals, with a nightlight (thanks to a certain Christmas present, it's ok though, not mad:) and with the door open.
*Laneah loves her sister, but can't stand Brooklyn being the only one in the spotlight. If I try to take pictures of Brooklyn, Laneah runs over and jumps in the picture too. It is nice though when I am trying to take a picture of Laneah and she isn't cooperating all I have to say is that I am going to take pictures of Brooklyn instead and she quickly says she will take the picture.

*This little girl is a party animal. Every day she thinks there is supposed to be a party. It doesn't help that we have a dozen family birthdays to celebrate in Dec and Jan and when you add Christmas to the mix, there are non stop parties. She asks me every day if it is her birthday again. No thank goodness, it is not, stop trying to make it go faster:)    (Laneah on New Year's Eve, she loved the silly string)

*This month she figured out how to use a computer mouse really well. She is thrilled to be able to play Elmo games on the computer "all by myself!"


*She also started Primary in January. The first two weeks went great, but then I got called into Primary (chorister) and now she freaks out and screams and cries for me the whole time. I really like my new calling, but feel awful that because of it she is not transitioning into Primary well. (Laneah on her first day of Primary)
*Laneah is showing an interest in learning to read. We read books together and she repeats the words I say. She likes going to the library and picking out new books.


*She loves the snow but we haven't gotten much this year, only a dusting here or there. But she still plays in the snow and makes the best of it.

(making a snow angel)

*I think she is becoming a homebody just because she has to get dressed. She hates wearing pants. I will ask her if she wants to go somewhere and she will say yes, but then when I try to get her dressed, she whines and says she doesn't want to go anywhere. It will be better in the summer when she can wear shorts, she just hates pants for some reason.


*Laneah is always getting into my makeup so for her birthday we got her a princess makeup/beauty kit (not real make up) and she loves pretending to put on makeup and paint her nails. It also came with a cute curling iron and blow dryer that you can turn on. She likes to pretend to give her animals a bath and then turn on the blow dryer to dry them off. *She loves feeling boys hair. She is always rubbing her cousin's heads.

*She likes to pretend that she is going on an airplane to visit people she loves. She will pack her roll on suitcase with a blanket and stuffed animals. The laundry room is the airport and a laundry basket is the plane. She will tell me bye, she loves me, where she is going (it varies) and she will be back soon. 

*She started a gymnastics class at Rolly Pollies which she enjoys.

Laneah loves being the center of attention and continues to reign supreme as drama queen. She is so sweet and beautiful. We love her so much!

Ladybug, ladybug, oh so sweet

For Brooklyn's first birthday we had a ladybug themed party. I made ladybug invitations. The lighting didn't work to well, the invitations were actually hot pink and black


 I also made a ladybug cake, but it didn't turn out to well.


 The decorations

 The beautiful ladybug! I ordered this cute outfit from Etsy. She was teething, so we didn't get too many smiles out of her, but she had lots of fun.

 Nana was able to fly in for the big day.

 Brooklyn got some great presents. She got a Leapster dog that sings songs and says and spells her name; a drum that teaches beats and rhythm; a busy ball popper; a microphone; and a singing tea pot set. She loves playing with all her new toys.

 After presents it was cake time!

Brooklyn had a special strawberry cake that was dairy free and no frosting because of her allergies, but she LOVED the cake.

 With a full tummy, Brooklyn and her cousins played with her new toys.

The happy little princess








 It was a great party. Brooklyn is so sweet and beautiful. Happy birthday my little ladybug!