Day 1

Last night I had my "last meal" - a yummy carne asada burrito with grilled onions and mushrooms. Actually, in the past few days I've eaten all the yummy non-diet food in my pantry. I couldn't just throw it all away. I probably gained 5 pounds trying to enjoy all my favorite foods before I can't have them anymore. Why do we do that? I can't be the only one with the foreboding sense that the world is ending when starting a new diet.

I met with Kristy and Jeff Sketeris on January 1st in preparation for our new diet plan. We are basically eating a low carb diet, with emphasis on eating a protein and vegetable with each meal and snack. We have had success with low-carb diets (both Atkins and South Beach) in the past. The thing I am most worried about is our ability to stay on it long-term. In the past, we stayed on the diets for a few weeks or months, but felt so deprived we would eventually go off the diet and go back to our normal habits. This diet is different, in that we can have a serving of carbs after we exercise and in our three "cheat" meals each week. I hope this will make the difference to make this a life-style change.

So today is day 1 on our diet. So far so good. We are eating our veggies, protein and fruit in 2-3 hour increments. I feel optimistic about losing weight and becoming healthier. I will be posting our progress on our blog. Here goes nothing.

New Year's Reflections

I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. They are just too temporary. Here are a few sad truths about most people’s ability to be successful with their New Years’ Resolutions:

80% of American’s quit their New Years’ Resolution by the end of week 1
98% of American’s quit their New Years’ Resolution by the end of week 4

Despite all of that, I do believe in making changes in our actions and constantly reevaluating our goals. I often resist doing that at this time of the year out of some crazy desire not to be lumped in with all “those people”. You know the type - “I’m going to lose 15 lbs” and you see them at the gym on January 2nd. But by February, the gym is empty and those people are sitting in front of the tv, eating takeout.

But I can’t resist the urge to reevaluate my goals at this point. We’ve had a new baby, bought a house, gotten through the holidays, and hopefully soon we’ll buy our new car. So I’m at a point where things are calming down in my life and even more importantly, I have NO EXCUSES to put it off anymore. What is it I’m putting off? Losing weight and making healthy lifestyle changes. So I’m about to take a huge leap in my life and meet with a trainer/dietitian/weight loss coach TOMORROW. I’m jumping off with no reserve–both feet. Even if I land on my butt, like my two-year-old Elijah here. I’ll let you know how it goes…

I also realized I’ve been hiding out in my new house for the last few months. I’ve been stressed about money, overwhelmed with things to do, anxious about the future and embarrassed by the messiness of my appearance and my home.

I love that this box reminds me that “Life’s Good” and Elijah reminds me to break out of my box. He shows me how to be happy and have fun. So that is my next resolution. I need to simplify my life and enjoy what truly matters - my life, my family and my friends. This means working a little less and valuing my time, so that I have more to give. I need to make time for simple routines of fixing healthy meals, exercising, spending time with my boys and keeping my house in order. I also know that when I put my priorities in order and rely on the Lord through prayer and scripture study that everything else will fall into place. Here’s to a New Year, with a new attitude. What are your New Year’s resolutions?

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! Our boys have had a fun, present-filled day. They are on toy and sugar overload. But it was so cool to see them opening their presents.

Eli "helped" Levi open his presents.

And play with them. :)

The favorite present was definitely this huge train set that santa brought for both boys. Elijah didn't want to stop playing for ANYTHING, even opening presents.

We thought Elijah was old enough to give presents to us and learn that it's about giving as well as receiving. So Grammy took him to the store and let him pick out a couple of presents for us. He gave me some fuzzy slippers. But the best was what Eli gave Daddy--this HUMONGOUS remote control! Guess that's what Eli thinks daddy would like. ;P

To see our little Levi as baby Jesus, check out my photography blog: www.amberkatrina.com/blog Sooooo cute - you don't want to miss it!

Carving Pumpkins

We had such a fun Halloween today. I just had to share a few pictures. We've been so busy, we hadn't had a chance to carve pumpkins and we were almost going to blow it off. But just before trick-or-treating, we decided to let Eli help daddy carve a pumpkin. And I'm glad we did because he loved it! He helped daddy take out the seeds and even carve it (with one of those safe pumpkins knives). Of course I followed him around like a camera Nazi. I think it was worth it for these cute shots.

After carving pumpkins, we dressed both boys as giraffes and took them trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. There weren't many houses participating, but Eli didn't care. He had so much fun walking around calling "trigg-a TREAT!" He would say it over and over again until the we got to the doors, where he would become shy and barely whisper. But as we walked away, he would say "more house" and want to do it all over again.

Happy Halloween!

Have a fun and safe Halloween. Here's Levi saying "BOO!"

Which ended like this. Poor guy.

Newborn Levi

I know I have been neglecting my family blog with all the craziness of our lives right now. Little Levi is almost 2 months old!! I can't believe time has gone by so quickly. So I realized I better post Levi's newborn photos. He is 10 days old in these photos, and I think he's such a cutie!

Levi's First Bath

Amidst all our craziness of having a baby, going back into the hospital for a blood clot, buying our first home, and preparing to move - I have tried to be good about taking pictures of Levi's first few weeks of life. I figured that I better take pictures to avoid being accused of not caring as much about our second born. Whenever I get around to it, I also have some sweet sleeping newborn shots. But in the meantime, here is Levi getting his first official bath at home.

Happy Birthday Levi!

Levi Glade Baker

August 7, 2009
8:09 am
9 lb 12 oz
20 1/2 in

We went to the hospital on Friday morning for a scheduled cesarean section. My doctor thought this was the safest way to deliver because I had a previous shoulder dystocia with Elijah and this baby was measuring even bigger.

It was quite a different birth experience this time around. We scheduled the cesarean for Friday and were able to prepare everything ahead of time, like getting a sitter for Elijah. We even would have been able to walk into the hospital leisurely, except that we slept in and had to rush to the hospital so we didn't miss our scheduled time. After signing paperwork and getting hooked up to an IV, I walked into the operating room so they could prep me for surgery. They gave me spinal anesthesia, which started working immediately. After a few minutes they allowed Brian in and started the surgery. Brian brought the camera, and he documented the birth beautifully with these photographs. I am so grateful he has become such a good photographer.

I couldn't see anything with this large sheet in front of me. It's probably a good thing to not see what's going on. It was weird enough to feel all the pulling and tugging in my abdomen.

Our doctor allowed Brian to take a few photos of the baby being delivered. I love having these since I couldn't really see or experience what was going on at the time. One funny thing is that as soon as they started taking the baby out, he peed on everyone!

Cutting the umbilical cord.

When they weighed him, the baby was 9 pounds and 12 ounces! A pound and a half bigger than Elijah was at birth (8lb 3oz)!! Our doctor said it was a good thing we had the cesarean. With the baby so big, it could have led to some major complications with a vaginal birth.

Brian brought the baby over to me to meet. We were lucky our anesthesiologist was a hobby photographer, so he was able to take our first photos together as a family. That's the drawback of our camera - most people are not able to operate it to take a quick shot of us.

In the recovery room, I was finally able to hold the baby and start to breastfeed him.

We discussed names and finally settled on Levi Glade Baker. We both love the name Levi and Glade is my grandfather's name. My only concern was how similar Levi and Eli sound. After talking about it, we decided to just use Eli's full name: Elijah the majority of the time.

A few details.

Elijah is so excited to have his little brother here. He exclaims "brudder!" each time he sees him and asks to hold the baby. So far, he has been surprisingly gentle, though I'm sure that will change as he gets more comfortable with Levi. I'm just glad he likes his little brother. Elijah is even willing to share his cars with the baby, which is saying quite a lot.

On his second day, we took some portraits of Levi. Isn't he adorable?! Look at those bright eyes - he is so alert and observant.

And finally, since everyone keeps asking if he looks like Elijah, I'll let you decide for yourself. Here is Levi at two days old in daddy's hands:

And here is Elijah at 4 days old in daddy's hands.

What do you think? Do they look alike? I can see some resemblances.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and kind thoughts on our behalf. We are so blessed to have two amazing, beautiful sons. We are so grateful Levi is here safely and in good health. More photos to come soon, so stay tuned...