30 Week Challenge: Week 1.5

This week has been rough. I was super excited to lose 7 pounds in my first week and was hoping to keep that up for atleast another week, but as of now I'm only 1 pound down from Wednesday. This week was the worst weekend to be doing a cleanse. My brother and sister were in town from Washington so there was tons of food to be had and I couldn't eat pretty much any of it. This is what my weekend looked like... 

Thursday: Bryan & Brittany's family arrived in the afternoon. Mom made lasagna for dinner with salad and garlic bread. I couldn't eat that though so I made my own dinner. I can't even remember what I had. We went swimming and then came back and had ice cream sandwhiches. I made a slim trim smoothie instead.

 Friday: (Lunchtime) This summer Amazing Jakes is doing a special where is was $50 per person for 3 hours of rides and games plus their buffet everyday until August 31st. It was such a good deal we go it along with Davis family and my parents. Unfortunately on this cleanse the only thing I can have is the salad (without dressing). So Friday we went there so the kids would have something to do. I helped my salad taste a little better and put pineapple on top to act as the dressing, although on a strict candida diet I'm pretty sure canned fruit is a no-no.

 (Dinner) Dad made fajitas and it was a homemade taco seasoning I made the last time I did the cleanse so it was candidia friendly! This was the best meal I think I've had this go around. I couldn't do a tortilla or cheese or anything. I did make a little guacamole to go with it. That was a good night and I actually got full:) 

(Dessert) Chase thought he'd be a family favorite and make cookies. I didn't have any and I helped make them. Talk about self control!

 Saturday: My oldest Neice Brittney was baptized!!! So proud of her. After the baptism they had a little luncheon. They served sub sandwhiches and different salads (non of which I could eat) they also had fruit skewers, chips, and cupcakes. Oh and a lemeonade. I brought with me some raw broccoli (not that great without something to dip it in). That was all that I could grab because we were running late. I also had one fruit skewer and got myself some water instead of lemonade. Chase made me cheat a little bit and took the lettuce, tomato and turkey lunchmeat off of one of the subs and I ate that. It was so good!

Brittney Ann Packer Baptized June 14, 2014

 (Dinner) Since we were spending all week together and BP was leaving early Sunday morning we decided to do Father's Day Saturday instead. Brittany was really wanting Geno's Pizza so we got that for dinner. Bonus Dad wouldn't have to cook. Mom also had leftover pasta salad and Jason & Steph brought leftover Subs from the luncheon. Plus since I didn't know what to give my dad for Father's Day I decided to make these garlic knots I make ( a huge no-no!). I made myself some brown rice, asparagus, broccoli, and canned chicken stir fry type of thing. Definitely not appealing.

 Sunday: Lunch was a on your own type of thing. I had a sliver of lunch meat and I mixed some canned chicken with hard boiled egg and onion together with some greek yogurt that is probiotic. It was decent. 

Dinner: We had leftovers so lasagna, garlic bread, corn, and pizza. I made myself a slim trim smoothie because I wasn't in the mood for anything else. I cheated here and had a small bite of lasagna. After dinner I made some guacamole to have with blue corn chips.

 I am very proud of how I ate this weekend. I kept getting compliments at how well I was doing considering all the food I was surrounded by. I've done a little more research for "normal" food that is candida diet friendly. Tonight I'm making taco salad and tomorrow I'm doing BLT salad with homemade dressing. Using turkey bacon. I'm pretty excited about these meals.

While I feel like I'm doing a good job I can't wait to be done. I've found out not being able to eat food makes me cranky. This weekend having EVERYONE over made me wiped out.

I started the PB Assist portion of the doTERRA cleanse and will do that for 10 days. I was hoping to do 2 rounds of the cleanse, but that would put me until the beginning August and I don't think I can last that long, this is tough.

My sister/in laws are joining the eat better brigade so hopefully that will help me better. Obviously not doing anything as strict as I am, but it will help. Here is to a skinny 2014!

Biggest Loser; Challenge Accepted!

So I know it has been awhile and you have probably all forgotten about me, but here I am! The reason for my blogging today is because some members of my family are taking on a little challenge...

The Biggest Loser; Challenge Accepted! Is what we are calling it. Because it is 1. Similar to the show Biggest Loser and 2. 6 out of 8 of us love How I met your mother!

So here is the gist of it. There are 8 of us doing it. We had official weigh ins last night, that was our starting weight. We will do weekly weigh ins on our own to track how we are doing. Then final weigh ins will be on January 18th in the morning so it's a more true weight. The person who looses the most weight percentage wins!

What do they win you may ask? A pretty decent earnings! We are each putting in $20 to participate. So the winner will get $140. Then we are having a 2nd place winner and that person will get their $20 back. In the event of a tie the 2 people will split the $160.

I'm really excited about this! I'm hoping this will be the encouragement I need to jump start a big change! We did a facebook group just for us to track progress, share recipes and tips, etc. We even are having a motivator of the week. That person will be in charge of keeping us pumped! (We'll see how long that goes)

So with that being said, if you have any awesome healthy recipes please send them my way!

Where does the time go?

Really??? It's sad that I post more on my "craft" blog then my personal life. It's not because things aren't happening because they are. It's just I get a little behind and it seems impossible to catch back up.

So the last few months have been great! Chase got a contract doing the same thing he was doing. Only now he gets benefits. Because of that though his hours changed a little so he had to drop one of his classes. Blessing in disguise, he was able to sign up for another one that was online. So he is taking 3 online classes this semester.

He is still biking around. Unfortunately a few months ago his nice road bike that his Cousin gave him was stolen. We used our tax return to get him a decent hybrid bike. So he is back to biking. He was going to do the Tour de Mesa, but it is $115! Can you believe it??? So I told him to just make is own Tour de Chase.

As far as I go things are unbelievable! The craft blog has been so so. I have very few followers (If you don't follow me please do, you'll probably know more about us from that then this). So I am planning on doing a craft fair in November. One of the things I wanted to sell was a carseat cooler.

Since it is hot now I decided to give it a try and sell them on a facebook group called Mesa Consign. One of my friends saw it and asked it I wanted to sell them on a deal a day website she co operates. So if things go well I'll be selling them on this site all over the country! So I'm going to be popping these out like crazy trying to make as many as I can! So I feel like everything else has been put on hold because of this. This weekend I'll be getting the fabric to get it started! So exciting!

So with this experience I wanted to be able to have a business sounding name so when they describe my product it's not just Courtney, a mom.

SIDE NOTE: I did the top a week ago. Had to stop because I heard a strange noise outside. Went to check it out and Ella had her puppies! Well at that point she only had one. Over the next several hours she ended up with 5 healthy puppies!!! (1 unfortunately didn't make it). So if you are looking for puppies in like 6 weeks let us know!

So as I was saying  wanted to get more in the business mode. So I came up with my business name... Ryderbug! It is one of my nicknames for Ryder and I love how it fits! So my Brother Bryan said I should call my carseat cooler a Cool Ryder! LOVE IT!!!

Now onto Ryder. He is a smart little boy! Loves being outside and TV (kind of opposites). We recently took him to Toys 'R Us and let him pick out a toy to buy with his birthday money. He had the best time! He's walk around examining each toy. He ended up getting a Batman and Joker little people and 2 train cars. Not bad for $10! Technically he owes us $.44, but we'll let it slide:)

Tonka & Ella still like to escape the yard. Ella had 5 puppies as mentioned earlier.

Mother's & Father's Day came early this year. I got a Kitchenaid mixer and Chase got a grill! So much fun!

Ryder 19 months

Someday I'll get better at this... 

 Ryder is 19 months old and such a big boy! I cannot believe how smart he is. I thought I'd take the time to record the smart, silly, fun things he's up to... 

He is saying so much I can't even count how many words. His newest are Boo Boo (Blue's Clues with hand motions and everything), more, bebe (baby), da (dad) 

 He likes to play a game where he'll point to himself and say bebe? And then he'll point to everyone else to see if they are a bebe. Today he started seeing if he was Da da? 

 He loves watching Blue's Clues and still like The Wiggles 

 He absolutely loves being outside and helping his daddy any way he can. 

He is starting to be able to match animals. We have a file folder game where you match the head of an animal with the tail and he gets most of them right. He gets a few of the colors right. He also has a animal puzzle and he knows where the animals go, he just doesn't quite know how to line them up.

Ryder got a new pet, a beta fish named Red. 

He had his first smoothie last night and LOVED it! It was banana and strawberry. He even got a big boy cup and only spilled once

We went on a family date for Labor Day. We went to the Dollar Theater and saw Lorax. He did great when he was eating popcorn, but then he wanted to get down and play. After that we went to the little play area at the mall. He had fun!

He loves ducks! He loves to shout it whenever he sees one! He thinks every bird is a duck! 

We are slowly working on potty training. My real intent was to work with him so he wouldn't be scared of the potty when we did start trying, but he actually does go every once in a while.

Something I forgot to ever mention, Ryder had his first fili bs experience July 20th, 2012 He got his own burrito and devoured it!

New Slide

I am SO behind on this! I can't believe it. This should be fun, I don't know why sometimes I get into this rut and think it's a chore. Most of my blogging is done on my craft blog now-a-days, but I don't post a lot of the personal Ryder growing up stuff. 

I'm going to do a bunch of posts and hopefully get myself caught up. Instead of starting with where I left off I'm going to go with most recent and then continue on from here. Then back track whenever I have the time/ motivation.

On facebook I am in a few "virtual yard selling groups". I put that I was in search of a kids slide. I was. Ryder LOVES being outside, but we have nothing for him to play with out there except dirt and sticks (which he loves). Someone had a slide they were getting rid of and was willing to take $5 for it! I was so excited!!! The only downside was that it was in San Tan Valley, like a 45 minute drive. I just couldn't pass this up. It's like a $70 slide for 5 bucks!

So we hopped in the car for FHE and had a fun drive. When we got home none of us could wait to put it back together. And Ryder couldn't wait to test it out. As Chase was still screwing in a piece we started going...

Same ol' same ol'

Man, I have really been sucking it up lately. Let's do some updates over the last 4 months Person by Person...

Chase: He finished a semester at School and has started another one. His Major is Geography, not sure if or what he'll do with it. He really enjoys it so that makes school less of a pain. In December he hit his 1 year mark with MPS. We really love that job. It is super flexible and perfect for our family right now. Chase has started riding his bike more and is hoping to do the Tour de Mesa in April (or atleast the shorter version). He recently did training at Discount Cab and will be doing that VERY part time. He just has to work 1 shift every 30 days. So he can keep it during the year and then when summer comes and he's off from MPS he can pick up more hours at Discount Cab. If you or your Hubby apply say Chase referred you! It seems like a nice set up.

Courtney: Just living the life of the wife and mom... and loving it! I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've started an Etsy shop selling homemade greeting cards to hopefully bring in some money. Check it out sometime and feel free to make a purchase if there is something you see. I'm kind of giving it a test run right now, we'll see how it goes. It's something I love doing (cardmaking) so it's fun too! I've started watching How I Met Your Mother during nap time. It's so funny and gives me something to do to relax. I participate in a card night every other month. It is so cool how "big" it's turned out. I started it about 2 years ago. It's so much fun! I also started a Recipe Swap every month. Last month was the first and there was some good food:) Next is Bfast foods. Yum!!!

Ryder: He is no baby anymore... he's 13 months now! He had a puppy themed birthday party that was so much fun! You can read birthday posts on my DIY blog here. He's been walking for a couple of weeks and walks more and more everyday. He is so smart and is learning so much! He says bye bye everytime we put him in his car seat. He's so much fun! He's a pro sleeper now and it has made life so much better! If you are hesitant to try the cry it out method, give it a try. Sleep has been so nice!!!

Tonka & Ella: Well they are still being turkey's getting out every once in awhile, but we can't really blame them. Tonka is now neutered. We took Ella in and found out that she was starting her heat cycle so we have to wait. They love attention and going on walks.

Family: We went to Disneyland in December (Post to come someday maybe). Nothing to big is happening. We started a goal of going on 1 hike a month and take the dogs. Today was actually our second hike and it was a little intense and didn't go very far. Baby steps right? We even bought a hiking baby backpack to carry Ryder in. We try to go with the Packer's that want to come and are working up to our goal of Havasupai Summer 2013. Chase & I have really gotten into the games Dominion and Thunderstone. They are strategic card games and so much fun! If you wanna play let us know. We'd love to!

Life is great and we are having fun and enjoying our time together as a family.

Updates and Leslie Family Reunion...

Ugh... I hate having to do this. Why can't I just stay on top of this so I don't have to do a HUGE post to catch everyone up, and by everyone I mean the one person who actually reads this...

So back to November. It was the Leslie Family Reunion (I think I promised to do a post on that.) It was a lot of fun. It was different with Ryder I couldn't just go off and play I had to make sure he wasn't getting into trouble. Luckily Ryder has a Pampa that always wants to play with him.

Pampa took Ryder on the swings and Ryder loved it!

There are a few traditions we have at these reunions.

#1. Volleyball!

#2 The Train...

Ryder enjoyed watching the kids go...

Until it was his turn...

Luckily we were able to bribe him with a ball. No hard feelings Papa!

The train is always a huge hit with the kids

Ryder was fine when cousin Brittney took him. Maybe he just wanted to sit in the front.

Tradition #3 Papa's birthday.

We always have the reunion the Saturday after Thanksgiving and My Grandpa (and Chase's) Birthday is the 26th. Every year someone mentions my Grandpa's birthday, he hates it! This year the reunion actually landed on his 85th birthday. Happy Birthday Papa!

This year they had some balls and stuff for the kids to play with, Ryder had a fun time at his First Leslie Reunion!

Happy Birthday to you too Daddy:)

NOVEMBER

I hate to do one large post like this, but having no computer makes it a little hard to stay up to date. So highlights of November:

We had our first ever yard sale. We got rid of a lot of crap which was the point of the whole thing. We also made $35. I learned somethings so if we ever do it again we'll be a little more prepared.

Ryder is now crawling with his tummy off the ground (not sure if I've blogged about that yet.) He is super fast and getting into a lot of things.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with lots of food. We love our family and are so grateful to have most of them nearby.

We did Black Friday! I love it! We got a new camera to replace the one that was stolen. We also bought a few Christmas presents. One of our brother's got a new big screen T.V. so he gave us his old one. THANKS BRIAN & ASHLEE! It didn't fit our entertainment center so we bought a new one off Craigslist for $20! It looks really nice.

Chase celebrated his 24th birthday. It was a busy day. Doughnuts in the morning with some family and (leftover) doughnuts and games at night with some friends.

In between doughnuts we went to the Leslie Family Reunion. It was a lot of gun. I'll do a seperate post on that.

Our brother did give us a computer to use until we get a new one for us, so the Gibson home should be up to date technology wise soon. (well minus the whole no T.V. thing.) Hopefully we'll be more up to date on this thing.

And in case you didn't hear. I started a craft, DIY blog with my sis in law. Check it out and follow us. We need the support.

Happy Holidays!

If you aren't safe at home where are you?

Post will be a lot fewer for a little bit. Last Tuesday we came home from being gone all day and found our bedroom turned upside down. Someone had broken into our home and stole our laptop, digital camera, around $70 in coins and 7 or 8 $2 bills that Chase had saved from Dominos tip to give to our children. They also took the bag I use to carry my Primary stuff most likely to carry all their "goods".

There was no sign of how they entered our house. Our best guess is that we locked our door, but it didn't close all the way. There was another home on our street that was broken into also, but they came home so they didn't really have anything stolen. Just their door was kicked in.

I was a little freaked out at first mainly because I thought, what would have happened if Ryder & I were home when they came. Were they willing to hurt others? Then I was freaking out, what would have happened if they were still in our house when we came home? We were home for like 20 minutes before we even realized it.

That night was so hard for me to sleep, knowing that someone was in our home. I mean they went through our private spaces, my bras were tossed around our room and I was suppose to be ok with that. I am now paranoid with every little noise I heard. So life has been a little crazy lately.

One good thing out of this is no computer= no internet! Less wasted time! I've been able to get a lot done lately. Except now we have to go over to our parents for everything. I use the internet alot. Google is my brain.

So amid all of this last week I thought to myself, if you can't feel safe at home where can you??? My mind immediately turned to the Temple. I am so grateful for that safety beacon in my life. I don't take advantage of it enough. I am grateful that I live so close to one and am able to go pretty much whenever I desire to. (Except when my recommend expires, Bad Courtney!). The Temple is a great blessing in my life. I'm so glad I had parents that raised me in the Church and now I have that responsibility to teach Ryder and future children.

So I've decided that is Heavenly Father's way of telling us we spend too much time online and we don't take advantage of the Temple in our lives, so now I've on a quest to make those things better. See, good trumps all!!!

Fall Break

This week has been so nice! Chase had the week off of work for Fall Break! He still had to go to class, but it was still nice. It was so nice to have him home for the week and it went by too fast. Some highlights of the week:

Monday we invited my Nephew Tristen over to play Risk. He saw it on my mom-in-law's game shelf when my surprise birthday party was over there and he made it very clear that we wanted to play it. So we had Circle K drinks and M&M's and set out on a quest for global domination! My sister made it clear that didn't know how to play and that they more just play with the guys. He liked our version though so mission accomplished. By the way... I WON:)

Tuesday we celebrated our Anniversary early and you can see my fears of this trip here. It was a nice little staycation. We went to the Radisson and pretty much just hung out at the hotel. We went to the casino for dinner. Now keep in mind we are not gambling people nor do we smoke, drink, or dress trashy... well at least we don't think we do. We felt out of place and the building reeked of smoke. Luckily you couldn't smell it in the restaurant. I felt filthy being there. Needless to say we did not go back. We went in the hot tub at night, it was relaxing.

Wednesday bfast we headed over to Fountain Hills and went to Denny's a Packer favorite... and not favorite (whole nother story). I wish I would have thought about it more and planned something to do in Fountain Hills. We went swimming again and played in the little fountains they have that shoot out of the ground. Felt like a little kid:) After checking out we went to the hotel restaurant to spend out free $30 we got with our Groupon deal. We both ordered and sandwich that came with fries and a house salad and we spent like 2 bucks! Nice!! And it was so good!

Here is a picture of us outside the elevator. It was my quest to take a picture of the two of us together. Of course I do it after we have gone swimming so my hair isn't nice...
After the hotel we went to Mesa High and played Tennis. It was a lot of fun and hope we can keep it up:

Thursday baby Daxton Kent Packer was born:) Unfortunately because of time he was born and our schedule we weren't able to see him until Friday. This day is kind of a blur to me and it was only yesterday. There weren't any main things that happened, just little things like errands, I think we slept in.Chase beat me in Rack-o that we bought at a yard sale for $.50!

Friday we were going to go to the temple and then play tennis, but bad Courtney let her recommend expire! It's the first time I've needed to worry about it so I guess it just slipped my mind. Oops! So we skipped the Temple and just played tennis. We are alot better since Wednesday and it is still fun so that is good. We took a nap:) Eewww! I hate waking up from a nap all hot and sweaty. We were washing out bed sheets so I napped on the couch and our front room gets so hot in the middle of that day. It was gross! Then we went and saw baby Daxton! He is so cute:) Then me & Chase parted ways. Chase went to a guys night and played Halo with fam/ friends. He still isn't back and I can't sleep without him, hence the late night post. The girls had a craft night and My mom-in-law taught us how to make these pumpkins:) They are so cute!















Sorry, my camera isn't the best and our lighting is orangy in the living room. I would post these on my new craft blog I'm doing, but this isn't my craft so maybe Barb can be a guest poster sometime:) Anyways, I made 5 of them, plus a little ball for Ryder:) Now to find a spot to put them, or just leave them on this shelf, didn't know if it gave them enough room.

Saturday plans, not a whole lot. I'm watching My niece and nephew because their parents are in the hospital with their new bundle. Tomorrow night Gibson's are having a family dinner because Jaxon is in town! Oh, and his parents:) We are doing a soup and salad potluck and Chase & I are making chicken Cesar salad. YUM!

That's pretty much it for our break. It's been so nice having Chase home especially when Ryder wakes up in the morning, "Chase, your turn." :) I'm so lucky to have a husband that is so willing to help me with whatever I need, no matter the time of day.

2 years!

Technically our Anniversary isn't until the 30th, but we are celebrating early. We are staying the night at the Radisson at the Fort McDowell Casino. We got a deal on groupon for $89 and it includes the 1 night stay, the $10 resort fee, and $30 in food credit (probably wont get us much). Pretty coo though. And the nice part is that it is already paid for months ago so it feels like we are getting this little trip for free.

The only bummer about this trip is it will be my first night without Ryder:( I'm not really looking forward to it, but at the same time it will be nice to sleep through the night. My sister Brittany is watching him. I hope he does good for her, I am a little worried because he has been very clingy and cries a lot sometimes when I am not there.

It is hard to pack for Ryder. I don't know what he'll need because when I'm there usually I am enough for him. So I'm trying to think of anything and Everything that would help make this night better for him.

Chase and I don't have plans besides hanging out at the hotel. They have a nice pool, but it's October so not sure how that will go. They do have a hot tub (not in room). Not sure how much of the casino scene we'll do.

After check out we are hoping to go to Mesa High and play some Tennis. For some reason we've had the craving to play and on Saturday we went to a yard sale next door to Chase's mom's house and they were selling 2 tennis rackets for like 5 bucks each or something. Jackpot!

I'm determined to have at least one picture taken of the 2 of us. Last anniversary we have a few pictures, but we aren't in them together.

Happy Birthday to me!

Never would have guessed this when I was younger, but birthdays aren't as fun when you are older. No one cares as much and it's just sad that you are getting older and older. I just turned 23 on the 7th. It was nice.

The say before Chase planned a surprise party for me with family and rootbeer floats. It was nice! However I am sad because I never got any cake and candles...

Chase and I decided not to do presents this year because we are going to Disneyland in December and we are saving money for a down payment if we ever find a house that we love and don't get out bid. So for him to throw a party was a big surprise, especially because that type of thing isn't Chase like.

So for the next couple of weeks Chase and I are the same age. I'm trying to think of something to do for him that doesn't cost anything. Every year it's the same thing "I don't need anything"! Drives me crazy:)

I have a few homemade ideas or low cost so I'm getting pretty excited. I'll let you know how it goes.

Also, on a non Birthday note, my sister-in-law, her cousin, and I have started a blog about crafts, food, fun, etc. Not sure what will come of it, but it should be fun. If you want to check it out you can find it here. It doesn't have anything yet, but it should soon.

Disney Marathon...

Ever since we finished watching the Smallville Seasons (can't wait for Season 10 in November) we haven't had anything to do. You know that time when it's too late to really do anything, but too early for bed? We don't have TV watching capabilities so we are kinda stuck. We recently decided to do a Disney Movie Marathon!



What is a Disney Movie Marathon you might ask? Well, I don't know if it already exists, but our version is watching all Disney movies from oldest to newest in order. We are basing it on the list here . We will either watch them on youtube or borrow the movies from others since we only have a few. We may skip some that we have no interest in or can't get a hold of since this would be nice to be no expense. And I'm not sure if we've decided to only do cartoon ones. We're kind of making this up as we go.

We started Tuesday night with Snow White. It is so much fun to see where the movies all started and to see how it's changed since 1937!

Hopefully this will help us be entertained at night and get us pumped for our Disneyland trip the end of this year.

We'll keep you posted on our journey through Disney. And do it with us if you would like. I wonder how long this will take us??

Next up Pinocchio!

Sea Life Aquarium

WOW!!! It has been awhile since I have posted.

We went to the SeaLife Aquarium at Arizona Mills Mall. We bought a discounted ticket from Groupon. Ryder seemed to like it. Of course he would have enjoyed it more if he were a tad older. Here are some pics from our nice family date:)

Ryder touched the star fish!!!

Ryder swimming with the fishys!

Check it out! He's standing!!! (while holding on to the tank)

This fish loved Ryder!

Looking at the tank from above.

The sting rays were a family favorite!!!

Goodbye Summer:(

Chase started back to work today at Mesa Public Schools doing bus driving. It's nice being back on a schedule. (Please don't hate us!). But at the same time I will miss having Chase home with me all day! He would go shopping with me so if Ryder got fussy he could entertain him. We'd watch Smallville together (so sad it is almost done), and just do whatever we pleased.

Ryder is so darn cute! I can't stand it! He makes me feel so good. Like when he reaches up for me or Chase to hold him. How could I not? He is in a phase (hopefully just a phase) where he doesn't want to be left alone. He'll be sitting playing, not a care in the world and then if Chase or I leave the room he crys bloody murder. I'm not sure if this is normal or if there is something I could do so he isn't so scared of being left alone or if I should really enjoy it while it lasts?

Over the weekend we went to visit family in California. I'll post separate eventually:) It was nice.

We made a summer to do list and haven't finished much on it. Some of it I'm wanting to put a hold on to see what happens down the road because...

dun dun dun da!!!

We are going to be looking for a house to buy!!

We are so excited and cannot wait! I guess that is one plus to summer being over. Now that Chase has an income we can be approved for a loan.

So some of the projects I want to do I'm putting a hold on. For example, the Mom's Crafts letters that I got for Mother's Day. I'm wanting to wait to see if maybe we do a color scheme in our new house that I could match the letters to. Stuff like that. I know, I know buying a house takes time and chances are we wont get in until next year, So it is silly to put things off, but I don't want to have to do the same project twice. We'll see though, I may just end up doing a neutral color like black and white or something.

Anywho... Chase says summer doesn't end until he goes back to school so we still have a little more time to get our summer to do list done. Better get to work... :)

Summer Days

Chase and I are so spoiled! Now that I am a stay at home mom and Chase works with MPS we have summer off to do whatever we please! And whatever we please seems to be nothing, it is nice!

We have recently made some family and personal goals. It was a lot of fun and it is still fun to see our lists hung up around the house. Ryder even has a list of goals and they are where he can see them almost every time he gets his diaper changed. (yes, we are changing table people!)

A lot of our goals are the traditional ones, get in shape, get straight As, do better at reading scriptures & prayer, FHE, etc. But they are always ones that need improved. So far we are doing pretty good, but we can't start slacking!

Ryder will be 6 months old next Monday can you believe it?!?! Time really does fly. Sometimes I forget how big he's getting, I still think of him as being my little baby. He is sitting! I can't believe how fast he picked up on it. It seemed like over night he went from being wobbley to being a sitting pro! I tried doing a post of a video with him sitting but it would take forever to load and so I gave up. I'll try facebook...

He is enjoying solids and can't get enough. We've only done veggies (carrot, avacado, green beans, and potato) so far but are going to try a fruit tonight (peach).
I am giving up on potatoes for awhile though. I think he had trouble digesting them. In the middle of the night after he had them he was crying and looking as if he was having trouble pooping. (Sorry if this is TMI).

Ryder loves making noise! It is so much fun to hear all the sounds he comes up with. He's teething and as you all know, it is not fun. He has 3 that I can see coming in on the bottom and 1 on top.

Summer is near...

For some reason I have been having trouble sleeping at night. I don't know what it is, but I hate it. My family is all tuckered out having sweet peaceful dreams and here I am looking things up on the internet. Not all bad I guess, I do have some ideas for Ryder's 1st birthday! I know it is 8 months away, I am just excited! Go ahead, call me crazy!

Other news, we went camping with the Packer's last weekend at Bear Canyon Lake. I will do a post on that later when I get some pics from my sister-in-law Jen who took some of the group. It was a lot of fun. Ryder somewhat likes being out doors. He just had a rough time. I think he may be teething. A lot of the signs are there, but I'm not seeing anything.

Ryder is sleep around 7 hours at night which is wonderful! (if only I could). His naps during the day are a little tougher, but I can't complain. He will sleep for like 20 mins at a time if he's in his crib so to give him a good nap I'll put him in his bouncer or I'll take a nap with him.

He is talking alot. He loves his voice I guess. He was really happy in relief society. He was just fed and good to go. So I had him playing on the floor. He was making some noise. It was so cute. Now I am biased, so my question to you (if anyone reads this), are you bothered by babies making noise during sunday school or Relief Society or those types of settings. He wasn't being too loud at least I didn't think so and it wasn't crying, it was "talking" but kinda a whinny tone. I don't get bothered by it so I want to hear that from other people. Give me your honest opinion!

He has also recently found his toes! It is so funny! It is amazing how they use their abs. He can easily kick his feet in the air likes it's nothing.

I go back to Primary next week. Bitter sweet. I have really enjoyed my time being able to go to Relief Society and Sunday School, but I really do love Primary. I wish I could just go to Primary, but not have to do anything. So anyways we'll see how Chase does with Ryder. Sometimes he gets fussy and tired and wants you to stand and walk around. I think he is excited to show off his boy! He always talks about the other babies that go to Elder Quarm.

Chase has his own bus route! Hopefully he will get a few more hours in the fall and be a contracted driver. It would be such a blessing! He would get vacation days and qualify for health benefit and then we would be able to quit Dominos. (We cannot wait for that day to come!) Right now he is working enough hours to cover insurance for Ryder and himself. He has like 20 bucks left of his check after that.

He is starting to ride a bike to work. His cousin let him borrow one and he was really excited about it. Only downfall is it is starting to get hotter. Now we want to get me a bike and do family bike rides. We'll see when that ever happens.

Next up...

Chase is done with work this week. He bid to get a summer route which would be great, but very slim chance of him getting it. They go by senority and Chase is one of the newbies. So good bye income for a couple of months. People keep asking what we are going to do? We just say hope we saved enough. Prayer will help us too:) It will be a tough summer, but we know that if we do what we are suppose to we will be blessed and everything will work out.

Speaking of doing our best, me and Chase are making some goals, summer and life long. It is always fun to see what each other thinks we could be doing better at. I'll have to do a summer goals post so we can see how we did at the end of the summer.

Memorial Day. So one of the few traditions of the Gibson's is to go down to Tucson and visit the grave of Grandpa Gibson. It was a lot of fun last year so we are pretty excited about it. It will be Ryder's first and a lot of families first time seeing him. I'll have to do a post about it next week. I'll take a lot of pics to give you a nice visual.

Let's see what else is happening? ...

Me and Chase are enjoying this extra time we get to spend with each other with School out and soon work. We spend a lot of that time watching smallville. We are hooked! We are on season 3 and are planning on watching all 10 seasons! Hopefully we don't get burnt out. Some of the episodes get repetitive. You know Kryptonite effects someone, gives them special powers, Chole crys, victim gets hit in the head and gets knocked out, Clark saves the day!


Thanks for reading and don't forget to answer my question:


Are you bothered by babies making noises in Church? What are your thoughts on the matter???

10 things I wish I knew before having a baby!

So, not that I am an expert or anything, I thought I would list some things that I wish someone would have warned me of prior to having a baby. IDK maybe it is in the girl rule book not to share this, but sorry ladies I never read it so it if is I'm breaking the rules:)

So here is MY top 10 list (not in any order) of things I wish I knew before having a baby...


10. Your bladder will never be the same again. You're bladder will like to surprise you out of no where. One minuet I'll be fine, the next I need to get to a toilet ASAP or I will pee my pants!

9. An episiotomy is the worst part. What I didn't realize is that these stitches are there for 6 weeks give or take a few. And you have to take special care when going potty. SO ANNOYING!!!

8. If you start going into labor when the cafeteria is closed order a sandwich or something that can be eaten cold right before it closes so you have 11pm. I was starving. By the time we got everything together it was around midnight. Chase went to get me food, but we had to pay for it we only got a $5 credit. So our meal ended up costing us like 15 bucks. Or I guess that is where your snacks come in handy. My DR gave me some crackers to hold me over a bit, NOT.

7. Record the "birth story" as soon as possible, believe it or not you wont remember every single detail and things will start to fade together. I journaled the birth when Ryder was around 3 months and I couldn't believe the big details I wasn't sure on. And I usually have a good memory.

6. No matter what anyone says, breastfeeding is hard and sooner or later it will hurt. But stick with it, it will get easier. I have no idea how many times I have been tempted to quit nursing and just pump, but it always gets easier. Take advantage of the lactation consultants at the hospital. I think I had them come in like 3 times while in the hospital. With them I'd do it right, but on my own it never seemed that easy. Also, banner gateway (and I'm sure other hospitals) have group support meetings that a Lactation consultant runs and they will help you with any questions you need.

5. Babies will be hungry until your milk comes in so don't be surprised if you don't get sleep. The first night Ryder was born Chase took care of everything, minus feeding. The second and third night I did and I got no sleep! Every time I set Ryder down he would cry. It was really hard and I was exhausted. My Mom in law came over one day just so I could nap! I can never repay her that is how wonderful it was!

4. It is hard to leave them. Banner Gateway makes you attend a discharge class the night before you leave the hospital. As far as I know it is mandatory. (If anyone knows a secret to get out of it let me know for the next kids). When I left to go to that class my eyes teared up. I did not want to leave him. Even now when I am away from him he is all I think about and I want to hurry back to him.

3. They grow so fast. This one is a trick because EVERYONE tells you this, but it is so true! I know Ryder is only 14 weeks old so I don't have room to talk, but it is amazing! I already miss some of the younger stage things he did. But I get excited thinking about the things he'll do in the future.

2. Ask for samples:) I don't know maybe this is tacky, but someone was telling me that before they left the hospital they asked for samples of all the stuff that they would use. They came home with a bunch of formula, wipes, diapers, and pads. In the end it saved them money. I did try to get some pads to take home, but they gave me the huge ones, well by then I wasn't bleeding that much so I didn't really use them.

And the number 1 thing...

It is in my opinion the hardest thing you will ever do. I imagine it is with each new addition because you can never prepare for it. There are so many different things to consider and so much going on. You can't just hand them off to someone else and it will just go away. You have to work it out! It may be hard but it is also the best thing you will ever do. Ryder has blessed our life so much! As hard as it is, I love being a mom and I enjoy every moment of it. The hard just makes you enjoy the easy fun moments even more.

If you have any "I wish I would've knowns" of your own, leave a comment and share.

Why the name change?

If you are a follower you may or may not have noticed that I changed the heading on the blog. We are no longer just CGsquared which we have so proudly been. Ryder is here so I needed a new clever title to put. I can't think of anything awesome like all the blogs I follow so this will do. But for now, I like this because it is us for so many reasons.

We are a happy family. Nothing gets us down. We know that if we trust in God then everything will work out. We are getting everything we want/ need in life. For some reason Heavenly Father keeps deciding to bless us. I'm still trying to figure out what we have done to deserve the wonderful life we have.

The other reason for this title is because it has become our family song. On a daily basis I sing to Ryder (several times a day). " I love Ryder he loves me. We love Daddy yes siree. He loves us and so you see, We are a happy family." I guess love is all you need to be happy. It is working out pretty well for us so far...

Sleeping in the crib...

My little baby is getting so big! He has been sleeping through the night for over a week now. From like 11:30pm to 6:30am. It is exciting!

So I thought I would try having him sleep in the crib. He took a nap yesterday in it for a few hours! Last night he slept from like 10:30pm woke up to be fed at 5:30am and went back to sleep. It is 9:45am and is still sleeping! Amazing!!!! Lets hope this is his new schedule.

I can't believe how grown up he is getting! I love him so much!

I think I jinked myself, I think he's up...

I walk in and he's just laying there looking around sucking on his knuckle. What a happy baby!!!