anti-blogger

I was told that after I had a baby, I would want to blog more. Well...that hasn't been true for me. And ever since my camera decided to tell me that my memory card was full even though it's empty, I can't take more than 5 pictures on the camera's internal memory. I hardly have any pictures of my baby recently, and I haven't been making cupcakes.

Next weekend I am making a huge batch of cupcakes for my sister-in-law's wedding. I'll be making chocolate strawberry, lemon raspberry, and orange cream cupcakes. They'll be miniature sized, and hopefully super awesome looking!

So anyway, maybe I'll start blogging more soon. Maybe not. We'll have to see.

Also, would anyone mind if I used my blog as a sort of weight-loss journal? Because I think that might help me reach my goals. But really, who knows?

Here are some of the most recent pictures I have taken. There's actually a lot more than I thought. :)

We went to see a balloon launch on the 4th. She loved it!

My brother & I (and our spouses) took my dad
bowling for father's day. My mom was nice enough
to watch baby while we played. She loved the bowling balls!

Long road trip to visit my sister. My parents were nice enough
to go with (*cough* drive *cough*) me and baby there and back.

Beautiful waterfall we stopped to see on the way.

Baby wearing her super cute hat and her cousin's sweet sunglasses!

Her cousin bought this stool at a thrift store while we
were visiting, and baby coveted it. This was one of the
few times she snuck a seat on it before her cousin noticed.

First time in that cute swimsuit! She wasn't too sure about the water
(and hasn't ever let us put her in her kiddie pool we got for her).

At a park we stopped at for lunch on the way home.

the baby weight

It needs to come off.

I actually just wrote a novel length post about my past year of trying to lose weight unsuccessfully, and then I deleted it because it sounded whiny. This will probably be just as long, but hopefully less whiny. Sorry about the plethora of words and lack of fun pictures. I'll try to do some recent pictures of baby (in pigtails!) soon.


So what I really want to know is this:

Do you have any ideas, tips, etc, on how to lose weight? How to stick to a diet and exercise plan? How to stay motivated?

My biggest problem is exercising. My available work out times are when baby is sleeping. And when baby is sleeping I totally want to do other things. Not exercise. Yuck.


Here's what has helped me so far (food wise):

-I tend to eat when I'm bored. So what I've been trying instead of snacking all the time, is chewing gum. When I head to the kitchen between meals, I stop and think: "Am I really hungry, or am I just bored?" If it's the latter, I grab half a stick of gum and chew away!

-Drinking water. Lots of water. It helps me feel like I'm staying full. Because boy do I get grumpy when I'm hungry!

-NOT weighing myself everyday. I've been doing that for awhile, and it's very discouraging. I would see no improvement, then get frustrated and eat my frustration away. I know, like that helps. See, people? This is why I need help!

-Plan healthy meals ahead of time. If I have a plan, and the supplies to carry out that plan, then come meal time, there is no scrambling around for things. Because when that happens, I usually make pasta with a lot of cheese. AKA macaroni and cheese. Homemade mac and cheese. It's so yummy! Also, along the same lines, keep healthy snacks in the house. And don't buy unhealthy ones. If I buy them, I'm going to eat them. End of story.

-Talking. I realized that I had no system to keep me honest. It was just me, and I really didn't mind sneaking some chocolate now and then. Or some bread. Or pasta. Seriously? I've told a few more people (and now all 2 or 3 of you who read this), and now that THEY know, I feel like they'll be checking me out every time they see me to see if I've lost any weight.

these are a few of my favorite things

-cupcake tin: I love this tin because you can bake 24 cupcakes at a time instead of just 12. It goes so much faster. My fabulous parents got this for me.

-the Hiccupotamus: I got this book for my baby because she is a hiccup monster. She's had hiccups all the time since before she was born. Literally. This book is so funny, has a good rhythm to it, and the pictures are adorable!

-my new recipe box: this has been a huge motivator for me making dinner everyday. I love having all of my recipes organized in one place. Instead of a dozen or more recipe books and folders of printed of recipes, I copied all of my favorites into here, and add more as I find them.

-my sticky note goal sheet: I talked about this a few posts ago. It really helps me stay motivated. Those yellow sticky notes have been on there since it's creation. I obviously need to get them done. :)

-my weekly planner: I picked this up at an office supply store, and I have loved it! I put up my cleaning schedule, and write what's for dinner on the bottom. This has really helped me stay on top of my cleaning.

-these bobby pins: I have never had bobby pins that are so awesome. I've had to buy new bobby pins every few months because mine keep stretching out and get too loose to hold my hair or the little rubber ends fall off. These ones have been awesome! You can fit lots of hair in them and it doesn't bend them open. They just snap back. They don't fall out. I just love them. The best part is, I got a whole pound of them, so I'll never have to buy bobby pins again! :)

-sharpie pens: no explanation. Just love them!

1 year old

My baby turned a year old! Crazy! And since I have millions of pictures, I'll use as few words as I can. We had 2 parties - one with each side of the family. With my family her birthday celebration was combined with mine and my dad's. Her party with the Webb's was combined with Mr. Webb's birthday and Mother's Day. She had tons of fun, and got lots of awesome presents, including a baby swing set for our backyard and a toy keyboard, which she loves!

At her first party, we had funfetti cupcakes with white frosting. At her second, they were lemon blackberry - the same recipe as the lemon raspberry from a few days ago, but in the frosting I used blackberry jam instead of raspberry.

My dad blowing out the candles on his sour cream lemon pie

she knew exactly what to do with her presents!

she had a mini cupcake because she was a little sick, but
she probably would have eaten a big one!

we got her a water bottle, because she kept stealing her dad's
and drinking out of it. I was surprised she figured out
how to drink out of the straw so quickly!

the most delicious cupcakes ever

A few weeks ago, my ward had a fundraiser for the Young Women organization. They auctioned off a bunch of stuff, including some cupcakes made by yours truly. And they were amazing! So, so delicious!

I decided to make chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes and raspberry lemonade cupcakes. Both were super, super yummy! I did a few things different from the linked recipes. For the chocolate strawberry cupcakes, instead of using ganache, I just dipped the cooled cupcakes in melted chocolate before frosting them. I also just frosted them with strawberry cream cheese frosting instead of doing a twist. With the raspberry lemonade cupcakes, I followed the recipe, but added candied/curled lemon zest and a cute striped straw as decorations.

I had some leftover cupcakes, so I found these cute cupcake boxes at the craft store and took them to the ladies I visit teach.

11 months

I can't believe that my baby is almost a year old. I'm going to have to stop calling her baby. Any ideas on a blog name for her? I'm so bad at making up names for my blog. Obviously.

Some of my favorite things she does:

-Takes a few steps on her own
-Gets excited when daddy asks her if she wants to check the mail; opens the mailbox by herself
-Leans her head against you when you ask her for a hug
-Claps
-Gets excited when you say "go for a walk" or "outside"
-Brings me books to read to her when I'm not paying enough attention (according to her)
-Makes an ugly face when you say "no." I'm just glad it's not a cute face, or I'd feel bad. :)

Anyway, here are some of her 11 month old pictures.

what helps me be more productive

I just need to come right out and admit it. I'm pretty lazy. I'd rather sit on the couch and read a book than be productive. So I've found a few things that help me get my day started and increase my productivity.

1. Get dressed as soon as I get out of bed. I don't usually take a shower until about 11 AM, and I used to just stay in my pajamas until then. But I've found that if I actually put some real clothes on, I don't feel so lazy, and I can actually get a few things done before baby naps and I shower.
2. Have a short goal list. I used to make huge, long lists of things I needed to get done. I would take one look at it and get so discouraged. So I made a sticky note goal list. It's just a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper with 9 sticky notes on it. I write one goal on each sticky note. Some goals are fun (plan a baby blanket for my daughter) and some are not as fun (deep clean my laundry nook). But it feels so good to get something done, take the sticky note off, and throw it in the garbage!
3. Be active. Whether it's walking with my mom in the morning, or doing Zumba or playing Just Dance on the Wii while baby naps in the morning, I find that when I do something active in the morning, I get more done the rest of the day.
4. Have a schedule. For me it's a cleaning schedule. I do laundry on Thursday and Friday. I clean the bathrooms on Thursday. I weed the garden on Saturday. You get the picture. I also gave myself a day off. On Wednesday, my only chore is to go grocery shopping. I don't know why, but grocery shopping makes me exhausted by the time I get home (which is usually 10 AM). So I give myself the rest of the day to do what I want. I still do the dishes and all that, but I work on projects or read books. It gives me a day to look forward to, and I like that it's the middle of the week so it gives me a nice break in the middle of my cleaning.
5. Do as much as I can while baby is awake. I know not everyone's baby is like mine, but my baby actually likes to watch me work. She especially loves laundry day. She hands me hangers while I hang up clothes. So I try to do as much cleaning as I can while she's awake, and that way I can have some downtime while she's napping.

What tips do you have that help you stay motivated and be productive? I'd love to hear them!

family activities (lots of pictures)

First, some big news! Baby took about 4 steps to her daddy on Monday! She is about to take off running! :)

In March, my sister and her husband and baby flew out and blessed their baby out here. He is such a handsome little thing! Here are the cousins on my side of the family:

She loves her only girl cousin!

My mom helped me whip up some crib rail covers, because baby started gnawing on them and taking off the paint. Then the next day I got a very little sewing machine and made a purse!

Baby turned 10 months old:

And finally, we celebrated Easter with the Webb family. She absolutely adores her Webb cousins!

Here are a couple movies for your viewing pleasure. :) The first is her laughing while I was feeding her lunch. The second is my brother (aka her favorite toy) pulling her in a box, which she loved! I keep trying to get a better video of her laughing, because she has such a funny laugh, but no success so far. Someday I'll get one!