Happy Birthday Buddy Boy!

Yesterday was Nathan's birthday. He giggled and got all excited each time someone told him happy birthday, so he knew something was special. I made him a Chocolate Beet Cake. Everyone loved it, except for Curtis, he said it was OK, just like most healthy things I make. I felt good about feeding my kids beets and freshly ground whole wheat flour and agave instead of sugar.

Nathan sure loved the beet cake!

He got a wooden train set from Ikea for his birthday. He loved it so much he played with it for two hours straight. We had to put him to bed kicking, screaming and holding on to his trains. His love for trains, cars and trucks has really grown over the last couple of weeks. There is hardly a moment that he does not have a car or train in his hands throughout the day.

Nathan is growing up so fast! We love him so much!






Happy Birthday Buddy Boy!

He kept saying "Again!" and got to blow them out over and over again. So fun!

What Do I Do With All These Art Projects?

Audrey keeps bringing home page after page of special art projects she has made at school. I don't have room for them on the fridge, so I came up with this solution:

Magnetic Strips!

It was very simple, first I found 1 1/2" by 24" metal strips at Lowe's (they come in all sizes). They are actually called straps and are in the hardware section.

I cut fabric strips twice the width of the straps, in this case 3". Then I Mod Podged the fabric to the straps and put a layer on top and bottom.

Then I made magnets using large glass pebbles, Amazing Goop glue (or E6000), scrapbook paper and small round magnets.

The holes in the straps made it possible to just use thumb tacks to hang them on the wall.
Audrey loves having a place to display her art work and it is out of my way! =)

Things I might have done differently:
Pick a cuter fabric
Glue an extra layer of white card stock to the back of the scrapbook paper circles, so the magnets don't show through to the front. I guess the glue makes the thinner paper a little see through.
Someday I might add a 4th of 5th below. The strips are already full! =)

Year in Review

What a year! How did I jam so many changes into just 365 days?

Nathan turned one, he learned how to walk, talk, jump, and "ride" a bike. The age from 1 to 2 is so fun!

We moved in March, we love our new home and are getting to know our neighbors. I am still not as comfortable as I was with my old ward, but it will come. It just takes me a long time to make friends.

The stress of the move caused me to get optic neuritis, which lead to an MRI and an MS diagnosis. Not long after, my sister was also diagnosed with MS and my Aunt Wendy ended up in the hospital with her worst MS exacerbation. She is still in a nursing home. What a crazy time for my mom. I think she took it harder than I did.

I completely changed how I eat. I started on the Best Bet Diet, which a lot of people have success with slowing their MS symptoms with. Then I tried out totally raw and then started adding in some cooking, but high nutrition foods. I would now call how I eat Whole Foods, no processed, 60-80% raw and I avoid all "bad" foods. I am really enjoying it and learning more each day.

Because of my diet changes I have lost 60 lbs! In March, when I was depressed and had no energy I desperately wanted to lose weight, but I felt it was impossible, but worth a try. It is hard to believe I lost that much just this year! I have a 20 lb goal for this coming year.

My sister Alaura stayed with us for the summer. It was so nice to have her around. She helped out with the kids for all my doctor appointments and was great company.

Audrey turned 4 and started preschool. She loves it and I feel she is very ready for kindergarten next year.

I got pregnant, quicker than expected, but still exciting. It only last nine weeks. I am still a little sad about it, especially since I am still not pregnant again. Maybe this year...

Curtis got a pay decrease, which led to a new job. He is basically doing the same web programing, but for a company that we feel has a better future.

We went on a dream vacation to Hawaii! I thought it would be years before we got the opportunity, but we found a deal we couldn't pass up and I reached my 60 lb weight loss goal. What a wonderful vacation!

This year should be a good one. We need to rebuild our savings, so we won't be doing anything fancy, except maybe some medical expenses. I will hopefully be tested in a couple weeks for what is called CCSVI, a lack of drainage from the veins that drain the brain. I will than pursue a fix for the problem. We also hope to have another child at some point. Either way it will be exciting and wonderful.