In Review: The Rest of October

It's certainly been a while since I've attempted to document the passing moments of this Baysinger clan. It is time I try to catch up.

So let's go back a bit. You know, three months is all. Yes, October. What happened to the rest of it?

Well, for starters THIS happened:

...so I rushed out to get some Taco Bell and McDonald's Hot Fudge Sundaes (cravings from my first pregnancy)...just so I could post this lovely on the door for Ammon...

It was a very exciting day. And since the beans have now been spilled I feel that you may now have some greater understanding as to why nothing has posted on this blog of mine in the last few months. The first few months of growing a person are not fun. Quite miserable actually.

Anyhow. The misery did not set in for another couple of weeks so we had just enough time to do a few awesome things.

Like carving pumpkins.

And partying hard at Oktoberfest at Belle and Kent's. This event was amazing. Root beer tasting. Food of all kinds. Company to die for. I will be attending this party every year for the rest of my life. I hope the Metcalf's are prepared for that.

We continued the partying by dressing up and heading over to Amber and Boyd's for their annual Halloween shin-dig. Another amazing event. I did not take enough pictures.

Bert of Mary Poppins

Mary of Mary Poppins

The Olmsteads as...umm...awesome! You may read more about their costumes here if "awesome" is not explanation enough for you.

The Joker

Maleficent

There were many more party participants in equally awesome attire - but as I said, I did not take enough pictures.

And then Grandma Breakall flew in to help us celebrate on Halloween.

She took us to the awesome Halloween/Fall Festival at Schnepf Farms. This was AH-MAZING. There was SO much to do, we didn't even begin to touch all that there was at our disposal. I plan to return annually. With or without children. Seriously, this place was SO much fun.

Ammely got her face painted.

And then we rode the carousel. Well, we tried. She was not sure about this moving horse.

Fortunately, the operator was kind enough to let us try again - this time with a stationary horse.

We went to see the pig races.

But our little girl did not have enough patience to wait five more minutes for the pigs to emerge.

So we measured ourselves.

And headed off to get in line for the flying bumblebees.

By this time we need to refuel. Again, I was VERY impressed. This food was yummy. Chili. Cornbread. Corn on the Cob. Hot Dogs. Chips. Soda. Kettle Corn. YUMMY.

With full tummies we headed off to ride the train around the farm...another VERY impressive attraction.

The full tummy, busy morning, and rhythmic chugging of the train pulled this little girl into her nap time.

And because we wanted her to be ready for her big night of trick-or-treating, we let her sleep. We took one last picture and then headed out.

After a restful afternoon, we started prepping for Halloween night.
All it took was a couple of pigtails and a little blue hairspray...

...and voila! Bo-on-the-Go!

If Ammely doesn't look familiar to you, you are not alone. Bo on the Go is a Canadian show that just so happens to be on Netflix and just so happens to be Ammely's very favorite show. Here's a picture to give you an idea.

Or if you're really interested, you may watch an episode here.

After some practice and preparation we hoped that she would be ready...

...and she was! It's just that the neighbors weren't quite ready. But fear not, her first door was not a failure. The homeowner rushed out just as we were leaving with a treat for our first-timer.

Ammely was thrilled. And it didn't take her long to realize that people were giving out candy and that it was okay for her to take it.

As well as she did, she's still only one...and one street was quite enough. So we headed out to Grandma and Grandpa Lords (sadly no pictures) and then came back home to wash away the evidence of our crazy night.

But even though the holiday was over...the fun was not. Grandma was still in town afterall!

And when Grandma comes to town, you get gifts from her trip to Mexico.

And she teams up with other Grandmas to take you to the park.

And you get to go shopping...for toys!

We're always so happy when a Grandma comes to visit...and always so sad when she leaves.

In other exciting October news, we purchased and planted our first tree! A Cara Cara Navel Orange tree. In a few years, we'll have our own fresh oranges!

We're one small step closer to a lush, green Eden-like yard.

PumpkinFest

As I mentioned previously, the weather is cooling down. Fall is upon us. My favorite season.

I've been getting an itch to do something festive.

As a kid, I remember raking leaves as they fell off the trees. I remember putting them in jack-o-lantern bags. I remember picking out costumes for Halloween. I remember decorative cookies at school and at home. I remember apple pies and pumpkin pies. I remember carving pumpkins. I remember wearing corduroy and doing things outside before the snow fell. I remember my mom and dad doing their best to make every moment special - to make every season into a memory.

I want this for Ammely too.

So I just couldn't say no when I saw a great deal on Groupon for this bad-boy:

With all of the memories I DO have from this season, I don't recall ever going to a Pumpkin Patch. And I've never been through a corn maze. But I've wanted to. In fact, the corn maze is on my bucket list.

So we invited along some fellow fall-loving, fun-having people and headed out to make some memories.

Now, I've never been to an event quite like this before so maybe it was not as great as others (if so, I apologize for the invite Belle and Kent!), but I didn't have anything to compare it to and I thought it was great fun!

There were loads of things to do! Well...at least there are loads of things to do if you're under ten.
But still, loads of fun for ALL.

We had a pony ride!

She's going to be the next big thing -- look at that, standing in her saddle!

We settled in ( or squeezed in) and had a train ride!

 

*You may notice that Ammely is not exactly awake on the return ride. Haha.*

We enjoyed the petting zoo!

There were even bouncy houses! Yes, multiple bouncy houses. The fearless, fun-loving Metcalf boys took advantage of those with no hesitation.

It took our little girl a bit more convincing.
We put her inside.
And she cried.

We put her inside again.
And she cried.

So mommy went in.

And then we watched the fun.

And then, at long last, we had fun too.

From the bounce houses, we went straight to the corn maze. It was a must-do. But truly a little intimidating.

Thankfully, we had expert navigators.

Sure, they look a little on the young and small side to be leading our pack through a towering corn maze.
But don't let them fool you.

Without them, we adults would have just stood at every crossroads, scratching our heads and wailing in despair.

But WITH them, with them there was no stopping us.

"Come on, right this way."

They knew all the tricks. You just had to do things like dodge a few husks.

And you could never give up - not even in the face of a dead-end or a tricky circle path.

I'm confident that it was only because we had these leaders that we were able to eventually emerge from the maze. They are the only reason I was able to check an item off my bucket list and get this picture to prove it.

Thank you Daniel and Levi. Thank you.

After the corn maze we said good-bye to the Metcalfs (they had lots of celebrating to do - it was Samuel's birthday!) and headed off to pick our pumpkins.

It was maybe a little hot. But not too bad.
Ammely was maybe a little tired. But not too bad.
Ammely was maybe a little sick. But not too bad. 

All-in-all, I deem this a success.

The baby slept exceptionally well that evening (not to be confused with that night).

But that's okay because that evening we actually shipped her off to a babysitter - and who doesn't love to watch a sleeping baby? Easy peasy.

And I got to scratch my fall festivity itch.

Project: Lose Weight, Get Healthy

I have what is probably a fairly typical story for my fairly typical body.

I used to be very thin.

Disneyland February 2007

Thanksgiving 2007

And then I went to college and I entered the triple digits for the first time ever. Still healthy, still thin. Just not quite the thin I was used to.

Summer 2008

 And then I got married. I gained several more pounds. Again, not heavy. But not the rockin' body I wanted to have.

Easter 2011

July 2011

 And then I got pregnant. And gained something like 40 pounds. Ish. I try not to remember.

March 2012

April 2012

And then I gave birth. And exercised. And ate healthy. And I got down to pre-baby weight. I felt awesome. I felt like I had beat out all those women who never lose the baby weight.

October 2012

And then I stopped exercising.
And then I started eating whatever I wanted.
Heck, I'm a first time mother and I often just wanted whatever was quick. Easy. Thoughtless. Tasty.
I often ate whatever high-calorie food we were trying to get our daughter to eat so that she would gain a few pounds. Excuses.
As a result, I was much heavier than I've ever been or ever thought I'd find tolerable.

June 2013

And then last month rolled around and I couldn't take it anymore.

I saw a convincing ad for a diet on another blog (the blog is called Twist Me Pretty, if you want to check it out) and convinced myself (and my husband) that the plan she used was going to take me to a weight I wanted to be at.

Enter Medifast.

I planned to try this for one month and one month only (we're not made of money people!).
I planned to lose at least ten pounds and hope for more.

I was completely faithful to this plan with only one exception: General Conference Morning Doughnuts and Chocolate Milk. They're a tradition. But I had two doughnuts instead of six. I ate them for one session instead of two. I had one glass of Almond Chocolate Milk instead of regular, high fat cow's milk until I pop.

The Medifast meals were tasty. But more importantly they taught me how to eat slowly. They taught me portion control. They taught me what IS good to eat. They taught me what is NOT so good to eat - even among the healthier foods. They taught me how often to eat.

And now the 4 weeks are up.

Did I lose ten pounds? Yes I did! And a little more.

What is next you ask?


Well, I still would like to lose another 10 pounds. But now that I'm at a weight I'm much more comfortable at, I'm more concerned with shaping myself and being healthy than the number on the scale.


So for at least the next 30 days -
I count my calories.
I don't eat carbs after lunch.
I get my rear end kicked by Jillian Michaels in my living room every day.

Hopefully this past month and this coming month are enough to instill healthier habits that will stick for life.
Hopefully if and when Baby 2 decides to make an appearance I won't have to start gaining weight feeling like a whale from the beginning. -- and hopefully during Baby 2's gestational period these habits mean I won't gain SO much preggo weight.

I feel great. I'm excited about what I've accomplished. Eleven-ish pounds is a lot on a 4' 10" frame! I'm excited about the weeks to come.

Wish me luck! This is quite an adventure.

Go-Ahead. Click on it. Make it bigger. Scrutinize me. I did it too. :)
Maybe you can't tell a big difference, but it's HUGE to me!

An Ordinary Day

Most of the time our days are quite ordinary. It's maybe a little cleaning. A little eating. A little sleeping. A little TV. A little Pinterest. A little reading. Go to bed and do a little of everything again tomorrow.

Sometimes on those ordinary days though, I step back and tell myself that a little ordinary is most extraordinary.

We had one of those days recently.

It rained in the morning and the weather miraculously cooled to perfect for the entire day - long-sleeved shirts were had by all.

We had the windows and doors open all day long and the a/c never once turned on.

I did a little weed pulling - it was definitely time.

And Ammely looked so darn cute just playing outside in our dirt yard while I pulled weeds that I had to stop. I had to just watch her. I had to just enjoy the breeze. I had to grab the camera.

I love our ordinary days of making extraordinary memories.

Reminds me of this country song - and as cheesy as it is, I still love it: