Greg proposed...

EIGHT years ago today! February 28th, 2003.

What's that you say? Come again? You're DYING to hear the story of our engagement? Well...... OK.

I wish it were something straight from a Jane Austen novel - but it's not.

In mid-January 2003 I basically had a nervous break down (from a Stephen King novel) - in which I cried HUGE alligator tears - and told Greg that if he did not propose soon we would have to end the relationship. I was in love and I just couldn't wait around for Greg to take his sweet time in making the next marriage move.

Greg obliged and admitted that he had been thinking of marriage, but had just failed to bring up the topic. Thanks buddy. The wedding plans ensued and Greg picked out and ordered the engagement ring. We had our engagement pictures schedule for March 1st and by February 27th Mr. Greg had still not proposed. So, basically I knew something was happening on February 28th. It's not rocket science people. I needed the ring for the pictures - OBVIOUSLY.

Greg was hard at work making all of the proper preparations.

He took me to dinner at "The Compass Room", which sits atop the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Phoenix. If you must know, it is the ONLY revolving restaurant in Arizona and is truly a gorgeous site. The food was fabulous. We nervously ate our dinner and made frazzled small talk as we both awaited the upcoming event.

It was chilly that night, and as I went to grab my coat from the waiter, I noticed that Greg was gone. In his anxious haste, he had walked off without me and had made it to the elevator before noticing that I was missing. When we made it downstairs and outside, Greg again grabbed my hand and hustled me through downtown. (***sidenote*** - Whenever Greg is rushing around and leaving me in the dust, I now ask him if we are getting engaged again.)

We stopped inside a HUGE tent across from Symphony Hall, which is now where the Phoenix Convention Center resides. The tent was empty, except for a small crane, on which sat a dozen roses. Attached to each rose was a small card stating one reason why he loves me. I have kept those cards through the years. They read: you take care of me, you care for others, you have a strong desire to follow the Savior, you love me, you make me laugh, you have a beautiful voice, you are smart, you make me smile, you are beautiful, you are everything to me, you inspire me to be better, you are my best friend. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH... sweet, huh?

He then got down one one knee and asked me to be his wife for eternity.

I said YES! and the rest is 8 years of magical history.

Here are a few of the engagement pictures we took the next day...

I don't need a Jane Austen novel, because I'm living my own.

And it is SO much better than hers.

Happy Engagement Anniversary Greg!

I love you more than I did 8 years ago and will love you even more 8 years from now.

Game On is Game Over

Need to get healthy?

Make it a fun competition with friends or family.

That's what we did.

I've been waiting to post on our Game-On experience until it's completion, so that I could give the full review and results.

Well folks, the results are in and I'm pleased to say it was FUN and it was SUCCESSFUL. We played with (or against??) my family and had a great time improving our health.

Game-On is a very well done "healthy living competition". You get points for sleeping, exercising, eating 5 small meals a day (including limited portions of lean protein, complex carb and healthy fat), drinking 3-4 liters of water, getting rid of a bad habit, working on a good habit, avoiding snacks, and communicating with your team member and opposing teams.

Over the last 4 weeks, we have made some great changes in our health and have lost weight while playing the game (Greg-8 pounds, Tammy-7 pounds).

Nope. We didn't win. The victors were Matt and Corinda, who played ferociously and obviously a little more perfect that we could muster. But really in the end, I'd have to quote your Elementary School gym teacher in saying, "we're all winners". Because it improves your quality of life and health. And there's nothing to lose in that.

Although the Game On Diet is game over. We have established great patterns for eating that will continue... and hopefully will aid in our necessary weight loss.

Try it out...

Unless you love your unhealthy ways. :)

Our RED LETTER week

We experienced a wonderful myriad of "FIRSTS" this week.

While on a FANTASTIC weekend trip to a Payson cabin with FUN friends (Wiscombe and Liimata Families) we experienced our first snow of 2011. It snowed all day Saturday and Sunday while we were warm and cozy in our cabin. What could get better than that? Oh yeah, and add great friends, entertaining games/movies, and delectable food.

Of course, Miss Emma was screaming at the top of her lungs, "Oh Mom! Isn't the snow so beautiful!". She LOVED playing in the snow. Greg did a great job of playing with her and I did a great job of keeping Grant warm inside.

The snow may not be so special to those of you in colder climates - but we don't EVER see snow in Phoenix - so it is a real novelty.




Grant got to meet his name sake for the first time on Sunday.

Three generations of Loyd. And no pressure on Baby Grant... but DANG... his name predecessors are very impressive men.

Gregory Loyd Adams, Grant Loyd Adams, Joseph Loyd Foutz

And the rest of the crew. Just for fun.

Grant has given us random smiles since he was about 4 weeks old. But this week he has genuinely been responding to our smiles and has been smiling and cooing on a regular basis. It is so precious and just melts my heart.

And lest I forget about this one. She smiles too.

Especially when her dress-up clothes match her princess toy.

The first shall be last, and the last shall be first

I do a few things differently with the second baby. Maybe you too?

For example...

When Emma made her church debut as an infant, I stewed for DAYS preparing the most perfect outfit in my mind. Grant made his church debut in his pajamas, because I was running late.


With Emma I spent extra time and money and energy washing all of her infant clothes in the special "Dreft" infant detergent.

Grant's clothes are lucky to be washed. And when they are, it is definitely with the rest of the family and our normal Tide detergent.

Grant however, does have some perks.

With Emma, we were purchasing so many NEW items for our first baby, that we accepted and used any free hand-me-downs. This included her activity mat and her baby swing. Grant got SERIOUS upgrades, since we really only had to buy clothes for him.

And he loves both of his new toys. He actually sleeps in the swing every night in our bedroom and is quite content in the comfy seat. And when I first laid him down to play with his activity mat, he kicked his legs and waved his arms around with a huge smile.

Guess there are perks to being the first and second child??

True Love Is...

Forget the chocolate, jewelry and roses -

TRUE Love Is...

Greg getting up in the middle of the last night with a puking Emma to hold her hair, change her pajamas, and put her in our bed to cuddle with him.

Meeting our new cousin Tate (Jeff and Michelle's) for the FIRST time yesterday...

Sweet Emma running to Grant's side this morning to place a pacifier in his crying mouth...

Aunt Laura sharing one of her precious Reese's Peanut Butter hearts with her niece...

(And my friend Michelle making Emma this adorable Valentine's skirt...)

And Baby Grant sleeping THROUGH THE NIGHT for the first time last night. 10:30pm to 7:30am. That is the BEST way a 6-week-old child can show true love to his Mother...

Well. On second thought. Let's not TOTALLY forget the chocolate, jewelry and roses. Those are nice too.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

THREE GLORIOUS HOURS

Emma bathed her Disney princesses this week. They haven't taken a bath since they came out of the box at Christmas, so you can imagine the foul body odor.

Who knew bathing seven princesses could take THREE hours?

It was a magical time for all of us.

I think the princesses may need to bathe more often.

PS - Do you kinda feel like you just looked at some princess porn?

One Month = Success

Grant celebrated one month of living yesterday - and we are glad he has survived his crazy family this long. Only eternity to go buddy. What a sweet little bundle he is.

I can NOT say it enough. My adjustment to two children has been SO much smoother than my adjustment to one child. SO. MUCH. SMOOTHER. There are lots of factors that have contributed to this, but in the end, I'm just grateful.

Took the kids to Desert Breeze Park on Tuesday - turned out to be the most BEAUTIFUL day in earthly history. So amazing. Really glad we got out to enjoy the glory of it all. Emma enjoys the train ride and carousel.

Stuck this picture in to show Emma's latest obsession with collecting sticks when we venture out. She always grabs one when we are out and about. I don't let her bring them inside the house, so she has quite a collection on the floor in front of her car seat.

The three of us on the train. Grant is in my "Moby Wrap" - which I LOVE during the newborn stage. Just like they're back in the womb. Grant tells me he loves it too, by falling asleep immediately upon his "wrapping".

Proof that Grant does cry. Although not often. He can go from 0 to 60 in about 2 milliseconds if he is hungry - but otherwise, he is SO content.

Grant had his 1 month check-up today. He is 10 pounds 7 ounces and 22 inches long with a 14 inch head. It puts him in the 50-75 percentile for all three. The doc says he looks fantastic. He even followed her light from the left side all the way to the right side, which the doctor says is a "2 month skill". Greg and I are so proud of our advanced/over achieving little muffin. :)

Grant's only flaw is that he has some insane sensory in his little body that turns on his CRAZED hunger mode at the exact second his sister needs to go down for her nap. He knows the ONE time I really need to take 3 minutes to spend time getting Emma up to her bed... and he chooses it to scream for food. Seriously, it's a little strange. Every day. Same thing. And she goes down at various times too.

Grant HATES to be cold and is not a big fan of his car seat. He smiled directly at us on Sunday. Although, I haven't been able to get him to repeat the trick, so I'm not sure if I can really count "first smile" yet.

Most of my "smooth transition" to baby #2 is on account of his continued AMAZING sleeping ability. From 2 weeks old this wonderful child has given me 6-7 hour sleeping stretches at night. I seriously can not thank him enough. I thought Emma was a good sleeper, but Grant is putting her to SHAME.

It has been INSANELY cold here in Arizona. I seriously don't know how to dress children for 30 degree weather, so this is the best we could do. Emma has worn the same turtleneck for the past 2 days, because it's the only warm thing she has to layer. Luckily, I had some kind friends give me some cute warm things for Grant.


And Emma, oh Emma. Where do I begin? This little thing is getting more personality as they minutes pass by. I can barely remember them all. Every night I try to fill Greg in on her moments - and it takes awhile. Here are a few:

• I was desperately trying to get her to finish her sandwich. She gently replied, "Mom, I don't know how to finish my sandwich, can you show me?" - to which she slyly handed me her sandwich, hoping with all her little 3-year might that her stupid Mom would fall for her genius trick.
• I was taking a shower. She ran into the bathroom and told me that she needed to pee. She hopped on the toilet, went to the bathroom and then proudly said, "My pee is making a shower in the toilet"!
• She says "Also-ly" - as a combination between actually and also. And she uses the word to mean both. She also says "I don't care" for just about everything. And she doesn't use it to be sassy. She does not understand what it means, so she says it at very funny times.
• Emma is starting to really "push her limits". I told her to stop touching her baby brother in his baby swing. She looked at me very sternly, placed her hand quite intently on the swing and just STARED at me. Daring me to stop her. Oh believe me folks, I stopped her. The other day I also told her to look at me, to which she looked up at me and then forcefully CLOSED her eyes in complete defiance. I'm in for trouble.
• Our awesome Bishop and his wife came over to bring gifts and see the baby. As they were leaving, the Bishop's wife said "thanks for letting us come" - to which I replied "anytime!". Emma latched onto that and now pleasantly yells "ANYTIME!" to any visitor who is just leaving our home. "Goodbye!" "Thanks for Coming!" "Anytime!"
  
• Enter the world of imaginary play. It has been so fun to watch. The friends are always princesses, but they are very real to Emma. Yesterday, Ariel and Rapunzel came to our house for lunch. There were not enough chairs at the table for me, so I had to stand in the kitchen for a few minutes while they finished. Emma told me I need to make them lunch, to which I replied, "sure, I'll make them a pretend lunch, because they are pretend". Emma looked at me with a heart broken face and said very enthusiastically, "they are NOT pretend, they are REAL, so you need to make them a REAL lunch". My parenting brain launched into high gear at that point and I calmly said, "oh silly Mommy, I forgot that Rapunzel brought her own lunch from home". I'm a freakin' genius sometimes. She bought it hook, line and sinker.
  

See any family resemblance?

Emma and Grant at the same age...

Guess the fertility doc doesn't stray from the mold much, does he?

Why change a good thing, right?

Grant Emma

Emma Grant

Grant Emma

Why I LOVE not being pregnant.

Pregnancy is miraculous.

Especially for me.

BELIEVE ME when I say that I recognize and appreciate this miracle. But, forever the optimist, I like to focus on why things are enjoyable now that I am no longer pregnant.

#1 - The baby is better to cuddle on the outside, than the constant inside kicks to my kidneys.

#2 - I. LOVE. SLEEPING. ON. MY. STOMACH.

#3 - Greg can give me big hugs and we don't just bump bellies.

#4 - So long my dear friend, Acid Reflux. So long.

#5 - Got a headache or cramp? Don't have to endure the ITTY BITTY nothingness power of Tylenol. I can take the real man's version of IB Profen and my discomfort is instantly relieved.

#6 - I can start to think about serious exercise and serious "get my body back" health.

#7 - I don't have to plan my day around staying AWAY from my stairs. No joke. In the morning, I would think about the day's activities and bring every possible thing I could need downstairs, to avoid a possible extra trip up the lung killers.

#8 - Emma saying, "I like your small stomach Mom" AND "Mom, can you hold me now that you don't have a big belly anymore?"

#9 - I puked all 9 months with baby Grant. All 9 months. It would be a gross understatement to say that I don't miss that. Yeah, a gross understatement.

#10 - I have my energy back!! I became very self loathing toward the end, as projects and to-do's stacked up to insurmountable levels. I beat myself up for the minimal motivation and the laziness. Now that I'm not pregnant I realize that my motivation didn't change, I was just SUPER TIRED from carrying a baby. This week alone I have completely organized Emma's play room and my clothes closet - both of which have needed organizing for, well, over 9 months.

And with my new energy, Emma and I have been having a grand time. This morning we made blueberry muffins from the end of her "Goldilocks" book we checked out from the library. Evidently, Papa Bear has a killer blueberry muffin recipe that he made as an alternative ending to eating Goldilocks.

Emma was quite excited to help. And more excited to eat.

** As a special treat** - a few pics from the week.

Thanks to Laura for bringing dinner on Tuesday and then watching the kids while I cleaned my bedroom and organized paperwork/bills. She is such an amazing sister/aunt!!

If you don't own a "Miracle Swaddle" and have/will have an infant in your home. GET ONE. NOW.

They are truly miracles. I credit 90% of Grant's sleeping success to this wonderful swaddle. He fought me for the first day (as did Emma), but once he got the hang of it, he has slept like a champion. I assure you, it is not your typical swaddle. There are extra flaps inside to ensure that their arms don't break free. Think "straight jacket for babies". I guarantee you won't regret the purchase. I bought mine on Amazon for around $30.

Oh and P.S. - Grant does own his own miracle swaddle in blue - but he happened to pee on it last night and is now adorned in his sister's purple swaddle.

The Comings and Goings of Week Three

Grant is three weeks old today.

And may I just say that this last week was just splendid. 5 nights out of 7 this precious little bundle slept 6-7 hour stretches. What a wonderful little baby who has already figured out that Mom is much more tolerable when you let her sleep. :)

And may I also say that Baby Grant has kindled my love for newborns. I know you'll report me to the People Magazine edition of "Most Horrible People of 2011" - but I've just never been a HUGE fan of newborns. Love them most when they can walk and talk and interact. When I was a teenager my Mom SWORE to me that when I had my own it would change. Then I had Emma. I most definitely LOVED her to pieces but I was always waiting for her to "grow up" into a toddler. Now that I have Grant, I can truly say that I just want him to stay a newborn forever. He is so small and cute and cuddly - and my heart breaks to think of him getting bigger. Maybe it's because he may be our last baby or maybe he is just an exceptionally good baby - but regardless, I have been converted to the "lover of newborns" club.

Emma has been doing really well. She has only pulled his hair twice. I know that sounds tragic, but I was expecting much worse, so two times is a really great accomplishment. Both times somebody was holding Grant and she wanted the adult's attention. We're working on other ways she can get positive attention. :) In other Emma news, she had her 3-year-old doctor's appointment this week. She is in perfect health and the doc says she is doing fantastic. She now weighs 34 pounds, is 37 inches tall, and is in the 87th percentile for her BMI. BMI, you say??? Yeah, me too. The doc told us she is "at risk" for being overweight and we need to watch her caloric intake. WHAAAAAAA???? She is THREE-YEARS-FREAKIN'-OLD! Give me a break. She eats VERY healthy and runs around all day long - and frankly that is all I am concerned with.

A funny Emma-ism from the month -

When she is done eating her dinner food she now says, "I'm full of that". Greg and I always laugh and say, yes Emma, you are most certainly "full of it".

We had lots of wonderful visitors this week!! And most of them brought along FOOD, which is always appreciated!! I am back to preparing our own meals as of tomorrow... and it has been a remarkable 3-week journey of ZERO cooking. Thank you so much to everyone who helped us. The kindness is completely overwhelming.

Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of everyone who stopped by. It's harder for me to remember my camera with the second child.

Here are the kids with my sweet Grandparents -

And Brielle Mortley - who's Mom Amanda brought me Cafe Rio for lunch! YUM! YUM!

We have been getting lots of great quality family time. And this week, I even ventured out on errands with TWO kids, my Tempe Symphony rehearsal, our ward play group and my 2-week OB check up. PHEW! It sure takes longer to get two kids out the door. It took me 15 minutes to get unloaded children ready to walk into the post office, 30 seconds to buy stamps at the automated service machine, and another 15 minutes to exit the post office and get the kids loaded back into the car.

My wonderful Aunt Sharron brought over Grant's baby quilt. Isn't it just beautiful?? It is one of my favorites she has ever made. And it is ALL hand quilted. She made one for our wedding, one for Emma and now Grant has his very own. We feel SO lucky to have these quilted treasures!!

We found some cheap tickets on Craigslist to "Disney on Ice" - so Greg and Emma went on a Daddy/Daughter date on Thursday evening. We knew Emma would LOVE it, because of her hysterical reaction to all of the characters at Disneyland. We were right. She had a fantastic time. She kept asking for more princesses. Her appetite is NEVER satiated with the beautiful fluffy dresses and gorgeous hair.

These past three weeks have been brought to you in part by:

AND...

AND...
AND (embarrassingly enough)... HEY, I had to check out the new judges...

We are seriously not a TV watching family. I frankly don't care for television. I've never let Emma watch it and Greg & I are generally too busy to watch it much ourselves.

HOWEVER... when a new baby comes along... the TV seems to suck us in. What else am I supposed to do while I breastfeed my life away? I'm so uncoordinated with breastfeeding that I don't have any free hands to use to hold a book - so I end up plopped on the couch - watching the boob tube. HEY. Maybe that's where the nickname came from? Breastfeeding women??

And BTW, I do love these TV shows and Red Box movies. Courtney was kind enough to buy us the first season of Modern Family on DVD and I've been laughing my brains out. Such a funny show.

So - our third week was a success. This second baby has been a MUCH smoother transition than the first baby and I feel like our life is moving right along. I am so grateful to all of the help we have received and all of the support we have been given. I am so grateful for Greg and his amazing ability to parent two children and take care of a wife with patience and love. Most of all, I'm just grateful for this miracle baby who has brought so much joy and happiness to our home. We Love You Grant!