A little Less to love: Mrs. September

By Cate.

Mrs. September lost 1 whole pound this month....impressive I know! 

Words like "oops, darrrrrnn it, HELP, what the heck!" were involuntarily escaping 

my lips this morning when I ever so hesitantly stepped on to the scale.

But then again, I am one whole pound closer to stepping on the scale 

and seeing a number I like! There is no shame in progress, even if it small.....

that is what I keep reminding myself

Regardless I feel like it is time to call in some back up, a little reinforcement if you will! When it comes to getting my workout on I am looking to my way to beautiful of a sister Korin from These are the Days. She is basically the coolest person I have ever met. It only took doing cross fit one time for me to realize that! She is a cross fit lovin' personal trainer 

who thinks working out is empowering......

Exhausting and torture are the words that come to my mind! 

I want to be like her!! 

And since nice Abs are made in the kitchen.....I called in the lovely Shantelle my real life very FREE health coach! I am ready to start dropping it likes it hott!  Wish me luck!

En light of starting to exercise I went ahead and purchased myself a few brightly colored sports bras with lightening bolts......because obviously I run faster with them on....and that folks is a fact ;) HA

Kind words are like honey Sweet to the soul and healthy for the body Proverbs 16:24

 *Mrs. July * Mrs. August (weight loss)

My name is Cate Johnson and I approve of these names.

I don't enjoy being pregnant.

Am I even allowed to admit that? 

Because some parts of pregnancy are terribly exciting.....and 

I do feel so blessed to have experienced a miracle 2x over! 

Its not the head in the toilet or months of

insomnia that I can't handle...It's having the non stop ticket 

on the emotional roller coaster I am not a fan of.

Not a fan at all!

 I am not cute (just swollen) and am not near as pleasant to be 

around as my non-pregnant self.....The Husband will testify to that one :)

But as soon as I give birth my memory does what it does best and completely forgets how I never had the pregnancy glow....because I am now holding it. 

This time I made a list....That my friends is what we call effective birth control!

Maybe if I was equipped with a list when Jett was four months

 I would have avoided this inevitable baby hungry drama with spice!

Oh but there are things that I am in love with....feeling my babies move inside me, the anticipation of finding out what we are having, decorating their nursery and picking out my baby's name! I could talk about baby names all day, everyday for the rest of my life and be perfectly, blissfully happy!

My memory box is full of lists of names I made both at 7 and at 17. Those lists are plum full of super embarrassing  creative name choices......Jett and Wynnie your name could have been Bucky.......One of the many reasons a 7 year old shouldn't be put in charge of naming anything that breathes.

Unfortunately The Husband doesn't share my obsession  passion. Nothing gets my man up and going faster than me rattling off baby names!  I should be the one who is thanked for how much he gets done in a day...JUST KIDDING....he loves it.....I mean what man wouldn't love their wife making "baby naming" their full time job? Asking strangers on the street what their darling children's names are. Spending countless hours pouring over websites and books trying to find the perfect name that just "feels right.".....Yep he loves that.....He made a rule that I can't talk about names until we find out what out what the gender of our next child is......I don't like being pregnant remember? That is years away. So I thought I would write my top ten{ish} names here...for reference of course. None of these names are patented feel free to steal away!

Me staring down the reason I gained 60+ pounds with Wynnie. So worth it!

Little Misses

1. Annie: Is is even possible to be named Annie with out being super cute? Aniston would make a lovely given name.
2. Jane: The little black dress of names, timeless. Janie has to be the cutest nickname
3. Navy: So trendy but I kind of love it 
4. Emmaline: It just sounds pretty...
5. Lucy: Lucy or Lulu would be so darling....sadly everyone seems to think so!
6. Rosalin: Lovely
7. Juliet: Can we forget about Romeo and just focus on how dang cute this name is? Probably not.
8. Mae: Simple and so sweet a family name too. I wonder if January would be too bold?
9. Sarany: It would be Sarany all of the time, never shortened.
10. Amelia:  It is so sophisticated!
11. Holland: LOVE, LOVe and some more LOVE

Little Misters

1. Beau: I envision a handsome swoon worthy cowboy and have been trying my best not to picture the "gamer" named Beau I met in college.
2. Jack: Unfortunately Jack Johnson has been done....
3. Cruz/Crew: One syllable names especially for boys make my heart sing! I completely stole this name from one of my favorite bloggers. Love it.
4. Mack: The Husband loves this name and I am finally thinking past McDonalds and Computers. I like McCoy and calling him Mack. Can't beat a two for one name!
5. Callahan: Pay a little homage to my irish roots!
6. Minor: It would sound good with our last name.....shallow reason I know.
7. Mitt: In honor of not after :) All kidding aside this name is one syllable and has a double consonant making it a contender....Jett, Wynn & Mitt. I am already thinking of it on our Valentine cards. 
8. Cord: I also love the name Brooks and Ty they both have such a masculine feel.
9. Abram: Has a vintage charm.
10. Ford: I'm swooning, The Husband is not....

And if we got some puppy love....or a goldfish: 

1. Rue
2. Betty
3. Betsy
4. Maude
5. Lady
6. Milly
7. Monty
8. Hollis 
9. Millo.....I will stop! Now all I have to do is have at least 20+ children and 9 puppies to put all of these good names to use.....or maybe I will get lots and lots of cats...just kidding.

And Thank you Renatha from Styled Life Photography for making me feel good about myself just weeks before the delivery! You are awesome. It is so nice to have some maternity photos that weren't taken by a phone! Thank you so much!!

From 20 weeks on my hair got so much shorter and my belly so much bigger! Oh and if  the duty of naming a child has been bestowed upon you  Nymbler and Nameberry just might be helpful.

strawberries, spoons and babies

If I had to pick a favorite stage, which I don't, but I will..

 it would most definitely be the four month old baby stage!

They are less fragile and more squishy! 

by cate

The Miss is officially 4 months. My little green bean is in the 97%  for her height....

and has the most delicious cheeks. 

She smiles and rolls and was  sleeping through the

night, that came to a screeching halt this week! What the heck?

 Maybe I was bragging too much?!?

She really is just a whole lot of sweetness!

This year our little box gardens was plum full of peppers, tomatoes, weeds and even a few strawberries! I never had to worry about picking strawberries because I enlisted the best kind of help. He also made the best strawberry eater!  

A boy of many talents I am telling you!

Supplies for garden markers

• Four years of private art lessons...Mom did they pay off? ;) HA
• Old spoons
• Clear epoxy to weather proof and TaDa you're done!

It took less than 10 minutes! We will go ahead and file this 

little project under the instant gratification folder!

And they call it puppy love...

 by cate
We planned on celebrating The Misters 2nd birthday last June with our friends and family in Oregon...what I didn't plan on was leaving all of his party goodies in Utah....sitting neatly on my bed....

Not willing to wait until he was a whole year older we held a belated birthday bash! Complete with two very special guest!!

(just for the record Jett didn't get to keep wilson or dallas!)

 Jett {helped} me put together take apart his little friends "doggy boxes" turns out there was a reason some of them felt lighter while passing them out....Candi called and said that her little puppies box was completely empty. How many children did that happen too? should I call and apologize. HaHa...

Happy 26.5 month birthday big guy! 

YoU are so funny and so so loved!

And yoU know it!

p.s here is Jett last halloween dressed as a puppy. 

a "Republican Party!"

We are using the cuteness factor to sway votes.....is it working? 

And because Dallas isn't quite old enough to vote.....Feel free to do it for him ;)

Thank you sweet friends for such a fun morning!

happy voting!

*all the cute elephants used on the shirts were found on pinterest....I am crossing my fingers that the owners of the original photos aren't the suing type. :) 

By Cate

taking back Responsibility

My parents were in town last week {bliss} we snuck away and rode the Heber Creeper. There is something terribly magical about a train ride.  I sat looking out the window feeling the fresh breeze and admiring the beautiful scenery...

I felt content (then my  little mister bit me ha.) 

Contentment. I can't stop thinking about how wonderful it felt to simply feel content.

 To sit there and for a brief moment let myself experience a feeling 

I am constantly chasing...I am in complete awe of it.

So when the  Husband arrived home from a business retreat..I was thrilled when he shared a concept that just might be the secret to finding contentment and becoming the very best versions of myself.

You can never be successful until you take 100% responsibility!

That completely knocked the chacos off my feet (completely in love with those sandals!)

That concept must be life changing, I swear it is the only thing that has been getting my not so tiny buns out of bed and on the treadmill in the morning! 

I am in pursuit of sweet, wonderful, blissful contentment :) And I am the only person who can find it for myself....If I could pay someone to be lose the extra pounds I'm carrying or to shed the guilt I shoulder.. or to have someone show me what a little more confidence would look like on me....

I already would have. Were talking in a heart beat!!! I wouldn't  have thought twice about it.

Honestly I never wanted to lose 40 pounds...I want to have already lost it. I want it to be just as simple to lose the next 34 pounds as it was to gain it....easy. 

But I can't. I am the author of my story and I am the only person  

responsible for getting in my own way. I have no other choice but to experience the journey of learning to love and trust myself.....that is a super frustrating thought...and terribly exciting

 To every person (myself included) who is afraid of failing, of owning up, who has felt  like the world owed them something and didn't deliver. Who feels overwhelmed, 

broken or confused. You still have a choice. Gratefully we are never really alone in the storms of life.

 We have all been blessed with the gift of agency. 

How different would our lives be if we all decided to use it? If we took responsibility. If we remember that we always have a choice.

*This post is a bit heavy....you know what they say you shouldn't drive or type while drowsy ;)

** I just reread my scattered thoughts and have decided that my new rule is that if I am up at 2 am it is better be with someone little who has the most delicious kissable  chubby cheeks....and not a key board...:)

note to self: go to bed. you neeeed your beauty rest. you are a mess today. and the only person you can blame is yourself....how is that for taking responsibility? 

Have a happy Thursday lovelies!

what the Miss wore to the aquarium

When The Husband announced that we were going to the aquarium I was elated. I imagined my children in cute "fishy" outfits completely mesmerized by all of the ocean wonders. So when we drove up to the Living Planet Aquarium
 and I realized it was just an  old converted super market...
.I couldn't help but admire their ingenuity....

and be a tad bit disappointed....

My little Miss slept and missed most of the ocean wonders while my Mister refused to exit

his stroller...or put up the sun shade for that matter....The Husband tried to drag him out....The Mister retaliated...and won.

Just when I was ready to chalk this little outing up to "it was a nice try better luck when your children are 12 and over." we saw a sea horse the size of my thumb nail. 

I couldn't stop smiling.......or stop talking about how tiny and cute it was.

Its a good thing I married such a patient man...

If I would have realized at the time that the photo booth was video taping my family (oh this technological world we live in) I  definitely would have  tried to wow everyone by saying something both clever and witty......luckily I didn't speak at all. 

Gratefully the only thing that looked foolish in this video are my darn bangs

and every snap shot ;)

enjoy!

The other highlight of the aquarium is the moment I realized that I no longer have to worry about teaching my darling children about the facts of life...
Because the living planet aquarium is willing to do it for me...haha