Rhode Island, Boston, & Salem

Mike, Sam, my parents, and I took a trip to the east coast a couple weeks ago to see these two beautiful people get married!



Jenn and Ryan's wedding was in Providence, RI at the Aldrich Mansion. The wedding was beautiful, and the reception was an amazing party! Thanks Jenn and Ryan, we had a great time!



Here is Sammy on his first plane ride.




Here he is again having fun on the plane.



Sam's first subway ride.






Plymouth Rock was, well, a bit disappointing.



Here we all are laughing at how ridiculous Plymouth Rock was. Sammy obviously agrees.



Sam's first time at the beach. It was pretty, but way too cold to let him play in the sand. I guess that means we'll have to go to a warm beach sometime soon!



We saw all the incredible mansions in Newport, RI.



And the International Tennis Hall of Fame. That's a grass court in the background. It's the first time I've ever seen one. I don't get how the ball bounces?



Sam enjoying the Boston Commons.



Definitely picture worthy! A bar in Salem.

My dad's self portrait on the cliff walk in Newport.

My mom as a witch in Salem.

Overall we had a blast on the trip. Flying and sleeping in a hotel with a 4 month old was a bit challenging, and we were exhausted and happy to be home to our own bed, but it's good to know that we can handle it, and we're determined to keep traveling as our family grows!

Weight Watchers Update

I weighed in today, and I was down 3 lbs for the week, YAY!!! I'm so excited because I've been pretty much staying the same for the past couple weeks even with the breast feeding and the boot camp, which basically means that I've been eating way too much. This week I really stuck to the program and tracked my points every day, so it's really nice to see it pay off.

In other sad news, I did not get into the Spudman Triathlon, which I'm completely bummed about. They decided to make it a lottery this year, and my name wasn't drawn, so I'll have to try again next year. The good news is that this gives me another month of weight loss and training before the Jordanelle Triathlon at the end of August. Wish me luck!

Running in the Rain - Sammy's First 5k

Mike, Sam, and I went down to Provo on Saturday to run a 5k in the rain with my Dad and my brothers. The weather wasn't great, but we had a good time anyway. It was my first post- pregnancy race, and while I was slow and out of shape, I was pretty happy with my time of 32 min 56 seconds. However, this would have been a slow time for me pre-pregnancy, so I'm really going to have to step up my training for Spudman in July.

This was also Mike's first post-pregnancy race, and of course he took 5th place overall with a time of 23 minutes while pushing Sam in the stroller with two untied shoe laces. Why are some people just always in shape, it's not fair!

My dad and brothers did well too. Max took 4th place overall, and Glen took 11th. My Dad took first place in his age group (even if he was the only one!!) with a 5k personal record time for him of 31 minutes.

Sam took first place in the 3 month old division, and he did it all while sleeping!

Here are the pics. Thanks to Lauren for being the photographer!

Gloating

My weekend was better than yours. Better luck next time, suckers.

(Skier: Aaron Stillman)

A Miracle Occurred Last Night!

It was AMAZING!! Last night I fed Sam at 9:30 pm. We were in bed by 10:00, and he didn't wake up until 5:45 am!!!! I couldn't believe it. That's pretty much the entire night!

I have a question for you experienced breast feeders out there: Is this okay for my milk supply? Do I need to wake him up once to eat in the middle of the night, or will my milk be okay if I let him sleep all night? I really want it to last an entire year. Please let me know your thoughts...

A Lot to Catch Up On...

1. Sam's First Camping Trip

We took Sam camping for the first time last weekend. We went to Moab and camped in the Sand Flats campground with our friends Jeff & Shera, Cam & Cindy, and our new friends Jared & Jen. All together we had a 6 year old plus 7 kids under 3!!

The weather was BEAUTIFUL, and we did two short, kid-friendly hikes: Corona Arch & The Millcreek Swimming Hole. We had a blast, but it turns out camping in a tiny, two-man backpacking tent with a 2 month old is really hard! We barely had any room, and while Sammy slept great, we slept terribly trying not to smash him. Needless to say, we ended up spending the second night in a hotel in Moab. Time to get a bigger tent!

Here are some pics and videos that I took during the trip on our little camera:


Sammy enjoying Moab in the nude


Cam and the kids on the way to Corona Arch


Jack taking a break after working hard on the way to Corona Arch


Kenny took the easy way up on Jeff's back, and he LOVED it! Here he is having a snack on the way up.


Sam tried out his baseball cap for the first time. It's a little big, but it worked great!


Mike and Sammy on the way to the watering hole


The Whitmers on the way to the watering hole


Jeff and Jack at the watering hole


Sam getting cooled off after a long hike!





2. Weight Watchers Week 2

I ate too much junk food during the camping trip and gained 1 lb, total bummer! Bootcamp starts tomorrow, so wish me luck. I'll definitely lose weight, but they make you wear a 20 lb weight vest the first week, so there will most likely be tears involved. I'm terrified.

3. Happy Birthday To Me

Thursday was my Birthday! We dropped the kid off with Aunt Amy and Grandpa Blommer, and Mike took me to The Melting Pot for dinner. It was delicious as always, and we stuffed ourselves!

For my present this year Mike watched Sam while I went skiing for the day at Alta with Shera. This was a big deal because I'm breastfeeding, and I've never been away from Sam long enough to miss a feeding, and skiing meant I would miss two feedings! I pumped two bottles, and Mike fed Sam for the first time. It all worked out great, and it's such a feeling of freedom to know that I can skip a feeding here or there when I need to.

4. Skiing Post Pregnancy

As mentioned above, I went skiing yesterday for the first time since being pregnant. The weather was AMAZING, and the snow was good. I was ridiculously out of shape, but I still had a blast! Thanks to Shera for skipping the back country for a day and going with me to the resort, and for being so understanding about me pumping in the parking lot...twice! We were both bummed that we forgot our cameras, but I can assure you that we were lookin' good!

5. Sammy at 10 Weeks

Our little guy is getting so big we can't believe it! Everyday he gets more fun. Lately he likes to shrug his shoulders when he giggles, and it's so cute I can't even stand it. He also had two nights in a row this week where he slept for 6 hours straight!

Weight Loss Update & New Pics of Sam

Last night was my first weigh-in at WW, and I lost 3.2 lbs, so that's awesome!! Hopefully I can keep this up and get the weight off before the triathlon in July. It was hard though because breastfeeding makes me so hungry all day!! Other than stuffing myself at Olive Garden on Monday night, and the gigantic chinese food meal we had on Friday night, I did pretty well! I guess maybe I could have lost 6 lbs without those two binges, dang! I'll do better this week.

Here are some adorable 2 month pics of Sam!