Happy Birthday...Better late than never?

Monday was Jordan's birthday. She was born on 2/22/02. Yes, very cool birthday but it gets better. On the day she was born we joked about all the different "cool" times she could be born. I was induced that morning and as the clock ticked we passed quite a few of those times. Then the time came...Jordan was born and we all stopped in shock as the nurse announced the time: 2:22. Needless to say, if you ask her, her lucky number is 2.

Jordan is such a joy to have in our house. After having 2 boys EVERYONE asked if the new baby was a girl were we going to be done. I just told them to ask me again when I was the crazy lady down the street with 8 boys. Truth be told 3 was our number regardless but I was SUPER excited to be having a girl. When the ultrasound tech said "most likely" a girl I went 100%. I never even mentioned to anyone the "most likely" part. Good thing she was a girl because I had never seen a closet so full of pink in my life. I think when she was born she had more clothes than I probably ever will.

Jordan is just fun - she's a bit of a tom boy since she has to keep up with two older brothers but she also loves to dress up and be girlie. Not that there weren't times after church when I would have to tell her to quit climbing trees in her church clothes. She's also ruined a dress or two while skateboarding - but what can you do?

Jordan is also my sidekick. She tends to keep the house in order - even though she's the biggest culprit of leaving her snack wrappers on the couch. I was sick once and could barely get off the couch. I remember hearing Jordan tell the boys that it was time for bed. When asked if "mom said??" she responded YES and the boys brushed their teeth and went to bed. I just smiled to myself and went back to sleep. She also loves to take the lessons she learns at church and use them at home. Of course she has to TELL me she learned about being a peacemaker as she will walk in to the other room and tell the boys to "get along". Of course she's also the one jumping in and stirring the pot 99% of the time.

She loves to read, rollerblade, design dresses, and just about anything else. She is one of those kids that will try anything and she has no fear. I am thankful for her every day.

Look for the update in April when she gets baptized. And yes - she has to wait because of family schedule conflicts. She did suggest getting baptized now and then doing it again when everyone can come and was a bit disappointed when I said it didn't work that way but she is SUPER excited for April!!

Hair today gone tomorrow?

Can you tell if this is a boy or a girl? Apparantly the hair on this child was getting so long that at Chuck E Cheese's on Saturday Jordan had to say to another child "That's not a girl! That's my BROTHER!"

I'm not really bothered by what my kids want to do with their hair. There are so little freedoms for kids that hair really isn't something I make a fuss over. (I will also admit I get some sort of pleasure from people asking about his hair and those that just don't think it's "appropriate") Jared had decided a while back that he wasn't going to cut his hair until summer. Fine, let's see what happens. He then changed his mind a month ago because he "saw himself in the mirror and didn't realize it was that long". We still didn't get it cut mostly because we just didn't get over there to cut it.

On Saturday, after the "That's not a girl" comment and the fact that his older brother wanted a haircut we went to Great Clips. Jared still wasn't sure if he wanted to cut it or not so he decided on a trim. They did take 3 inches off - if you call that a trim.

The Deal

My mom was here last week and when we stopped for lunch before I took her to the airport to go home she put an offer on the table. I've been wanting to lose weight for a while. In fact there were 2 New Years in a row that I joked that my resolution was to become anorexic. I don't need comments about how insensitive that is and all that other stuff. I'm not really choosing to have an eating disorder to lose weight. And anyways, it obviously didn't happen, so you can relax. So, after trying to figure out what would REALLY motivate me an offer came. A deal was made. (Doesn't hurt that I saw my picture on two different blogs and that might have encouraged me just enough!)

The deal: lose 20 pounds before my cousins wedding May 15th and get a $500 shopping spree for a new wardrobe.

Now I'm not a style maven and I'm pretty much most comfortable in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt but those things wear out too. So - we'll see how the next few months go and what kind of fun things I can buy.

So, I now have to figure out how to get this done. I can't run because I have a bad knee. A floating patella - if you want to see it I'll show you sometime. Haha. Mainly I think I need to start on my diet. Cutting out the soda, the junky snacks and the second helpings. I'm also hoping to go pick up an elliptical from a friend who doesn't use hers. Just have to find someone with a truck to pick it up for us and then I'll be on my way to a skinnier me.