Utah State Fair

Well this is only posted a month late....but better late than never!! :) My sister and I took Brynlee to the fair with free tickets thanks to my mom.....it was fun this year becuase she LOVED looking at everything and seeing the animals and even took a ride on a couple rides. She really liked the carousel but the other ride which I don't even know what it was scared her to death! She pretty much cried the whole time!! lol I like to go to the state fair, but everything is SO overpriced it drives me crazy!! They even made ME have tickets to go on the rides with brynlee who also had to have tickets!! SO dumb!! She's 1!! It's not like she can go by herself!! Of course the food is so good, but still SO overpriced!! lol That's the fair for ya!! It was fun, we didn't stay long becuase it was really hot!! How I miss that warm weather already!! All in all it was fun and Brynlee actually enjoyed it....unlike last year she mostly slept through it all! :)

Weightloss Update

Well I have in total lost 11 pounds since my whiny complaining post about not being able to lose weight. This has been with the help from the HCG diet which I LOVE!!! It does miracles to your body!!! I started the HCG a few weeks ago and then had to stop after five days becuase I got sick. I maintained my weight for 2 weeks by watching portion sizes/eating healthy. I was worried I would put everything right back on after losing 7 pounds on HCG. But it is possible to keep it off, you definitely have to change your lifestyle and be committed though. I just started again on Mon and have lost another 4 pounds in the past 3 days. Don't get me wrong the diet totally sucks and I hate every minute of it, but oh how it is worth it when you get on the scale every morning and you weigh 1-2 pounds less than the day before! It's like magic!!! :) I will probably only do the HCG 5-7 more days because I don't have much more to lose. (which they don't recommend, they recommend doing it the full 20 days, I'm totally breaking the rules...oh well!) But today was the most exciting day, I weigh what I weighed when I was in 18!!! My body may not be as toned but it hey, I'll take what I can get!! haha I have been running and run 2.5 miles 3 times a week, I'm trying to go longer each time! It's taken me 3 weeks to get to that point and I am proud of myself!! Oh and that is while pushing a jogging stroller which is kinda hard to do I promise! I really want to run a 5K before winter and I want to train to run a 10K in spring! Hooray for weight loss, I feel so much better about myself, it really has been an accomplishment for me!!! No more complaing, if I don't like it, I can change it, but nothing in life comes easy!!!

Perks of the job....

My mom works a couple of jobs one of them is working at Thanksgiving Point. She had a end of the year party for all of her teenage volunteers and we got to mooch off of their party and have dinner, lots of treats, and lots of fun! Brynlee loved every second of it and it was hilarious to see her with the animals at the Farm. She has always loved the Farm but now that she can walk she enjoyed herself even more!! She just ran from one animal to another....she would stop look at the animal, jibber jabber something in her own language, laugh at them, and run to the next one!! It was hilarious!! She had lots of snow cone and her and I had matching blue mouths the rest of the night. They had a climbing wall, which I can proudly say I proved my husband wrong when he doubted I would make it to the top!! I even climbed the thing in flip flops!! :) All in all it was a fun family night that didn't cost us a dime...thank you mom for working where you work!!

She thought the goats were the most funny. :)

Blue mouth Brynlee with her Grandpa Packer

Brynlee didn't like being in "Jail"

She loved the horse ride!!

LOVED seeing the animals.

Bouncing on the big blow up trampoline thing.

Brynlee's 1Year Pictures & Family Pictures!

Okay seriously if you don't already know I am a picture addict I'm sure you've figured it out! :) My new goal is I will only do yearly pictures of Brynlee now that she is a year. I can't promise anything but it would definitely make Joe happy if I stuck to that goal!! haha I really only needed pictures of Brynlee but decided it had been awhile since we had some fun updated family pictures too!! Our amazing friend Chelsea Johnson that I knew from California (we were in the same ward as her family) took them and she did an AMAZING job!! I seriously love so many of them I couldn't just choose just a few to post!! She also made movies of the shoot too I will figure out how to get those up becuase they are so amazing they totally make me cry every time I watch them!! Brynlee did pretty good considering it was pretty close to bedtime and all she wants to do is walk around...can't keep her still for too long!! She totally captured facial expressions Brynlee ALWAYS does that no one really sees becuase she is usually smiling, so I totally loved that!! Thanks for the amazing picures Chelsea we love them!!! :)

I never realized how cute she looks even when she cries!! lol

Weight Loss Blues

Bear with me today...I just need to vent a little. So I've been trying really hard to eat better, count calories, and get my "pre baby" body back. I know I will never have the body before birth because it has changed, but it can be close, I see amazing looking women everyday that have 3 or 4 kids! Every time I try to talk to someone about this they never understand and think I'm crazy for feeling the way I feel. But I'm entitled to feel the way I feel. Even though I am a "small" person I struggle with weight issues just like everyone else. If I eat whatever I want because I am short it goes straight to my stomach!! Have I ever had the "perfect" stomach. HECK NO!! Maybe in high school...but even then it wasn't great! The stomach for me is the HARDEST place to lose weight!!! I want to exercise and I try to here and there but I feel like I never have time! I feel like where in my day is that going to fit?? I have to get the amount of sleep I am getting, I cannot get up any earlier because I can barely make it through the day already!! I'm just feeling discouraged today. I want to get the rest of the weight off before I have another because I know it will be even harder the next time. I've lost 5 pounds in the past month just by counting calories, which is really good for me, and I really only have like 8-10 to go. I really don't care how much I weigh though, it's the shape of my body!! Is my stomach really always going to be so stretched out looking?? Any suggestions, or tips would be so helpful!! Right now I am doing the HCG diet. It is hard, because it is so strict, but I am on my 3rd day and have lost 4 pounds. That I am so thankful for! We'll see how this goes and hopefully in 2 weeks I won't be complaining anymore!! haha Don't get me wrong, having Brynlee is worth every second of my messed up stomach lol, but it's the pressure to be thin, the fear of getting bigger and bigger with another pregnancy, and the fear of looking back years from now wondering how I let myself get where I am. Anyways...I really am blessed and I really do try and count my blessing when I feel this way! I really am grateful for the body I have, I am SO grateful for the beautiful daughter I have to show for it, and I am thankful I am healthy and able to do the things I need to do!! Sorry for complaining so much, tomorrow will be a better day!! :)

Brynlee's 1st Birthday!!

Even though Brynlee is almost 13 months...better late than never!! We had a fun BBQ party for Brynlee's 1st birthday. It was fun to have our own place to have everyone come over and fit in. Brynlee wasn't too sure about all the attention but soon realized it was all about her, and soaked up every second!! I have come to the realization that she is an attention sponge. She soaks it up like crazy and continues to want more and more of the spotlight. This could probably lead to some problems I'm sure...good thing we are planning on more kids hopefully helping the situation!! lol She is very little for her age...but the doctor isn't worried because she is growing and will probably always be a little small. Packer genes, sorry Bryn! :) Her stats are: Height 28 Inches 20% Weight: 18.2 lbs 9% Oh and don't you worry that head isn't small 46cm 77%!!! hahaha!! Anyways...wanted to list 12 of my favorite things about Brynlee....they are:

1. How smiley she is!
2. Her sense of humor...she cracks up so easily! And her laugh is so cute!!
3. Her determination and independence. She is constantly trying to figure out how to work something, how to open something she shouldn't, and she wants to feed herself dang it!
4. The words she can say Da-da, Go, Go Away, Thank you, juice, and rarely do I get a ma-ma!!
5. I love the way her legs look so stiff and her butt sticks out when she walks. It always makes me laugh!
6. She is SO daring!! Already climbing up and down the stairs without any hesitation.
7. When she is really impatient she stops her feet really fast and yells at me!! lol
8. Her temper tantrums, even though they drive me crazy it is funny to see her throw herself on the floor and scream!
9. Her fetish with shoes, if there are shoes left around, she picks them up, carries them wherever she goes and eventually brings them to you. She could play with shoes for hours!!
10. Her hugs and kisses. They are so sweet, and I sure do love my 10 seconds of cuddles before she is up and off being the busy body she is!
11. She LOVES to walk on grass and be outside. She will stand at the back door and cry until I take her out there!
12. She is a busy body...sure keeps me busy, but I love it!! I love seeing her learn new things, love seeing her excitement for life, and her funny little personality everyday!!!

It's so fun having kids...can't wait for more!! I sure do love this little girl!! Can't believe she is 1!!

Not so sure about everyone singing and staring at her!!

She was loving opening presents...and she actually liked the toy more than the wrapping paper. lol!

What we've been up to....

1. Well it's been awhile since I last blogged and June has been a crazy busy month!! Joe had his birthday which was fun...we went on our first "Real Date" since Brynlee has been born, sad I know!! But that was fun and I finally got to take him to Tepanyaki for his first time. He loved it and we ate more than we ever should have!!
2. We went on the yearly Murphy Vacation...this year to St. George. Joe's family rented a house there equipped with a nice secluded yard and pool, basketball court, and enough rooms for everyone! It was so needed for Joe and I and so much fun!! We rarely take vacations and we always look forward to this one every year. We spent most our time in the pool becuase of the 110 degree weather which was fine with me...I am a tan-aorexic and love the sun!! haha Joe and I were better this year though...well okay, I was better this year!! Last year I got a sunburn the first day and was miserable the rest of the trip. This year since I was pasty white I started off with sunscreen and worked my way to the oil!! lol But we also saw quite a few movies, joe golfed, Emily, Bryn, and I shopped the outlets, we ate good food, got great sleep, and most of all did nothing and didn't feel one ounce of guilty for it!! :) The Murphy's are great vacationing company and we're so blessed to have such great families!! This was also Brynlee's first "roadtrip" and it went well!! I know, how lame are we?? We don't get out much!! haha The ride there she whined and cried an hour and a half until I crawled in the backseat and entertained her the rest of the way...jeeze, I can't wait until she can watch a movie or something!! The way home we decided to drive later at night hoping she would sleep...worked like a charm!! From now on, we will always travel at bedtime!!! haha All in all we had a great time and I am already ready for another vacation!! :)

Sorry so many pictures, I couldn't make up my mind!

Day 1 in the pool Brynlee wasn't too sure she liked it....

By Day 2 she was lounging out, and CALM!! So calm I've never seen her like this ever!! She loved the water!

3. We got home the night before 4th of July and were able to spend it with my family!! We had a BBQ and lit off some fireworks early for Brynlee to see what she thought!! She wasn't very amused...in fact I think she was pretty much terrified!!! I think all of us laughed more at her than even looked at the fireworks!! haha She was hilarious! Hopefully next year she won't remember how scary they were and she will like them!! We were kinda lame and went home early to put Brynlee to bed somewhat on time and we were so tired ourselves we pretty much crashed!!

Brynlee LOVED the fireworks when she could hold them....


Then when they were lit...she hated them!!

Other than all that fun it's now back to the same old!! We are trying to get are yard under control... When we moved in the previous owners hasn't weeded for at least a couple months!! When I say our yard looked like a jungle I really am not kidding!! Today we spent almost all day outside pulling and pulling and pulling weed after weed. We got more than half way done which is good, it looks 5 hundred times better already but there is still so much more to do! I'm still trying to get rooms painted and decorated in my spare time along with working busy days at the salon and at home chasing a very curious walking Brynlee around cleaning up one torn a part room after another!! :) Her 1st birthday is in a week, I really can't believe she is almost one!! Now I'm busy getting ready for that...it's going to be fun!! Hope everyone is doing good, and having an aweomse summer!!