Baptism pictures

My awesome older sister Sarah took Conni's baptism pictures for us.  She took a total of 213 pictures!  So, be impressed with the, ah, um, "few" that I am sharing here.  We are so proud of Conni and her choice to be baptized.  We are looking forward to it!

 

Grown Up Karate Teacher

Conni has said for a while that when she grows up she wants to be a "fighting teacher".  She had never taken karate or anything, so this kind of came out of the blue.  We decided to enroll her in a community ed karate class this summer to check it out.  Its a five week class, once a week, and its much cheaper than trying to start a regular class. 

After her first class she said she didn't like it.  Her teacher was pretty loud.  Conni had a chance to go one on one with her teacher and practice punching and kicking him.  He would shove her around a little (not hard or anything) to try to get her more riled up.  She did NOT like this at all. She wanted to be done.  But, just cause something is hard doesn't mean we give up. 

The second week, she was nervous again.  She practiced the moves, working very hard to be accurate and follow her teacher.  But, when it came time to put on the gloves to go one on one with the teacher again, Conni was jumping at the chance to be first.  This week after class she said she liked it.

Yesterday was the third class.  She was so excited to go and couldn't wait to get started.  She remembered the moves and worked even harder to improve her technique.  She paid close attention when they were taught a new move, and tried very hard to mirror her teacher exactly.  When her teacher came around she complimented Conni on how well she was doing.  She told her if she keeps it up, she can go with the more advanced kids in the class.  Then of course she got the chance to go one on one with the teacher.  She was flying high after class.

We went straight to the church for my young women's activity after class.  Dave was going to meet us there, so Conni had a few minutes to play.  She disappeared by the chalkboard and surprised me with this awesome drawing:

This is her, all "gron ap" (grown up) teaching a fighting class.  I am so proud of her sticking to karate even though it was hard.  She fought through and now she loves it.  Now I just have to figure out how we add this to the busy school schedule in the fall...

A Payoff Moment

I'd like to share a payoff moment.  Some people may see this particular post as bragging.  But I worked hard and I want to share!  Here's my story...

Here's me in April 2012:

As much as I loved the pictures, I didn't really like what I saw in myself.  I knew that I needed to make lifestyle changes, but I couldn't find the motivation to start.  I would take a day here or a day there, and do like 10 minutes of exercise, but I would get discouraged easily.  

In April of 2013, I found my motivation.  (Here's where I share that story.)  The Health and Fitness Challenge I participated in was a real eye opener for me.  (Here's what was expected of me and some of my early results.)  I was pleased to see my body slimming down and the pounds coming off the scale.  I finished the challenge in third place and told myself, "I've learned some great lifestyle habits and I will continue this daily!"  Well, reality hit and I only got in exercise here and there.  I was eating a lot better though.  Then my friend Evelyn introduced me to another challenge group that started the end of September.  

This time around the challenge was a lot harder to keep going.  While I luckily maintained my weight in between - I think I gained three pounds in the four months "off" - the weight didn't start dropping off as quickly this time around.  It was much harder to stay motivated.  I dropped another pants size though, so I think the inches were coming off.  

I chose to enjoy the holidays and not participate in the challenge they did at this time.  I love the treats we have during Christmas and made a conscious choice to eat.  I did however use a lot of self control to watch my portion sizes and make sure I wasn't eating late at night.  

I still hadn't reached my weight goals, so I decided to participate in a third challenge starting January 10th.  I wanted to make sure I got to taste the last of the Christmas treats so I kind of indulged a bit before the challenge started.  Again, however, my maintenance weight thru the holidays was pretty good - I gained five pounds - and this was over Thanksgiving and Christmas! 

This third challenge I convinced my sister Sarah to participate with me.  She was surprised at everything that was expected of us.  She was even more impressed with what I had done the year before.  This time around I didn't get perfect points, and I was frequently having to exercise at night to get my time in.  However the inches were coming off yet again.  I dropped yet another pants size and a shirt size as well.  I lost a total of 6.75 inches overall on this challenge alone.  I started having problems with my knee, and was diagnosed with patella femoral syndrome (but thats for another post).  

I was really happy to see how far I had come with basically six months worth of work.  I am now half the pants size I was in 2012.  I have lost a total of 28 pounds since my starting weight. (Plus the other eight pounds I had to loose twice!)  I am not quite to my goal yet, but I will keep working.  

We had family pictures this weekend and I truly loved what I saw when we got them:

I have to give a ton of credit to my friend Evelyn who started me on this journey.  We went to the zoo together last week and she is still one of my biggest supporters.  We sat and ate M&Ms and shared our successes and failures since we started.  I know I can do this and I am so proud of how far I've come.  I know this is something I will have to work hard to keep up with and maintain, but now that I've done it, I know I can do more.  

Thanks for letting me share!

Conni's New Glasses

On Valentine's Day, at Conni's eye appointment, they told us Conni needed glasses.  I was really struggling with the concept, and Conni was a little nervous too.  I told her she could choose any color frames and she chose purple.  It took a week for her glasses to be made.  Conni was very excited to go pick them up.  (Sorry the pics are kinda blurry - I was trying to hurry!)

First time wearing them

Getting instructions from the tech

(This is Conni's "super excited" face)

I told Conni that after we finished getting her glasses fitted we could go get her Penguin some glasses too.  We found the perfect pink pair.

Then of course we needed to go show Grandma and Grandpa her glasses.  She had to test to make sure they still worked while she was swinging.  She also hung upside down from the tricky bars.  I was pleased to see her glasses didn't move around at all!

Conni is adjusting just fine to wearing her glasses.  She isn't have any irritation on her ears or the bridge of her nose, so they are a great fit.  Today is her first time wearing them to school and she is excited to show all her friends.  She's growing up!

Conni Lost Her Tooth!

We noticed Conni's first wiggly tooth on New Year's Eve.  Since then she's been wiggling it like crazy.  We had a dentist appointment this month and we were able to see all her permanent teeth growing in.  It was cool and creepy all at once - and I didn't get a picture to share!  

But anyway.  We saw how loose Conni's tooth was yesterday and convinced her we could pull it.  Dave tried to wiggle it out, but that hurt too bad.  Then he tried to grab it with a "floss lasso".  It moved but didn't come out.  Conni was getting a little frustrated, so I took a turn.  First try, I flicked her tooth right out!

We left it for the tooth fairy in our tooth fairy doll with a sweet note from Conni.  The tooth fairy traded the tooth for two dollars and another note. 

As much as I miss the baby stage of firsts - we are entering a whole new fun world of firsts.  

Funny side note - I still remember the day Conni's first tooth broke thru as an infant.  It was a Sunday in January 2009.  We all had colds and stayed home from Stake Conference that day.  Well, this week was Ward Conference, Dave and Conni had colds and stayed home from church.  Kind of a funny coincidence!

Enjoy some pictures!

Pushing her tooth out with the upper teeth

Dad don't wiggle it - that hurts!

I'm doing great mom!

Dad's valiant efforts

Mom setting it up

And its out!

Checking it out

Beautiful

Ready for the tooth fairy