Life Remodel!

Well since the last post was about Milo's 1st Birthday, I have a lot to update!
Milo is now 19 months old! He is walking, running, jumping and being awesome. :)

We moved in November to American Fork to a cozy little townhouse. I say cozy because its kinda small, but we love having a place to call home.
<-- Here is a picture of our cute little set up.
We had our first Christmas as a family in our own place here and we loved it! I got the cutest little Christmas tree and we started a pretty awesome tradition that is new to both Mike and I, and that is to have real cedar garland! We are blessed with a cute staircase and so it worked out! Here's a picture of our 1st Christmas!

Milo was spoiled rotten of course! With all the families we have, its bound to happen! We are blessed with many many people in his life that love him. :)
In January, we found ourselves making new years resolutions to become better spouses, parents, and saints, just like anyone hopes to do. What we didn't realize when we were making new years resolutions is that we had a major factor to consider in part of our goal-setting, especially me!
We found out we are expecting another little one! Baby #2 is on the way and should make his/her appearance September 9th!

Ever since then, of course, we have been re-mapping our lives to accommodate for another baby Sage! I am going to the group of doctors that helped me every step of the way through bed rest with Milo at the UVRMC hospital, and I have not regretted that decision once! I love every doctor I see, and that is a huge step from the doctor I saw when I was pregnant with Milo. Ugh..
At the beginning of this month, we had an ultrasound to check the length of my cervix, because as I said before, my doctors are all awesome and are taking lots of steps to prevent pre-term labor. At that ultrasound, the lovely technician made a little sneak peek to see if this little one was willing to reveal the gender, and ta-da!
We are having a little BOY!!
Milo is getting a little brother and best bud. :) We are so excited!
We have decided to name him Maxwell Orson Sage. Orson is my Grandpa Christensen's middle name. We named Milo's middle name (Morgan) after Mike's Grandpa's middle name. We love keeping family names in the family.
Definitely a lot has happened since the last post! Our lives keep changing and evolving, and we are just soaking it all up.
As of today, I am 21 weeks pregnant and I feel little Max move all. the. time. He is a wiggle worm for sure! Yesterday was the first time that Mike got to feel Max kick and he lit up like the cutest daddy ever. He really is the cutest daddy ever though! I'm a lucky girl to have such an amazing partner in all of these crazy parenting adventures.
These are the most current pictures of our little fam. :) Thanks Mom for taking them!

To top off the updating, we have some exciting things happening in our life right now!

Yesterday, we met with the bishop for the first time and we have started the process of getting to the temple to be sealed as a family! We don't have a date set yet, but we are feeling the blessing that this simple step brings already!

Today I called some local colleges and made appointments for Mike and I to get back in school! Our goal is to be in school by the end of May!

Awesome things are going on. :)

All About Milo!

It's hard to narrow down the things I love about my not-so-little boy, but here are the things I love about my one-year-old Milo monster!
He is completely entertained with books and loves to be read to.
His face lights up and he starts to smile and kick his legs when he sees my face first thing in the morning.
He has a hilarious fake cough that he does just to be funny.
He knows when he's funny and he plays it up.
He loves rooms that echo so he can scream and laugh.
He loves it when the garage door opens.
He could eat french fries all day long.
He ate his first birthday cake in tiny little bites, when he usually devours any and all other food he eats.
His little teeth make noise on crackers and he loves chewing on them for that reason.
He loves dragging his hands along different textures.
He is so observant.
He sees small things around him and you can tell he just enjoys it and tries to understand what things are.
He is way too smart for a one year old!
When he figures out how to do something new, he does it over and over and over again.
He crawls goofy with one leg being dragged behind the other.
He is learning how to clap, and loves it when people say "Yay!" to him. He lights up like a christmas tree!
He gets really sad when Daddy leaves the room or gets out of the car.
He knows how to be gentle with other babies.
He loves doggies and would play with them all day long and never get sick of it.
He gives big open mouth kisses no matter what sticky gunk is on his face, and I enjoy every minute of it.
His kisses turn my insides to goo.
He sleeps like a freaking champ. No lullabies, night lights, or special accommodations required.
He doesn't usually get freaked out by being held by new people.
He just learned how to wave bye-bye, and gets bashful after he waves goodbye.
He cuddles into me like he did when he was little, but only when he gets really tired.
He is a little flirt with girl babies around his age. He smiles and pets their face if he's close enough!
He has the cheesiest little grin, accompanied by the most animated eyebrows of any baby I've ever seen.
He goes crazy for chocolate pudding.
He knows exactly who his daddy is, and says "Da!" whenever he sees him come into the room.
His face is super puffy and cute when he first wakes up.
He wakes up in the middle of the night sometimes and just wants to cuddle with mom and dad, while watching tom and jerry.
He reaches for whoever he wants to pick him up.
He has so much dedication when he puts his mind to it. He never gives up.
He brings our families together.
He is learning how to throw toddler tantrums, which is cute right now, but definitely won't be later!

Friendship Resume

Hello my name is Alecia.
I believe in true friendship based on honestly and acceptance. Here is what I have to offer as a friend.
I will never judge you based on your appearance.
I will always love you for who you are, no matter what crazy circumstances come up in life.
I am always on the other side of the phone when you have an emotional meltdown or just have something totally awesome to tell me.
If you have something personal you want to confide in me, I will be there for you not only for support, but as a safe place that won't deceive you by exposing your personal information for the sake of gossip.
No friendship is worth sacrificing for the sake of dishing the juiciest gossip.
Secrets are actually valuable and important to me, and I will always keep them.
I am loyal to my friends because true friendship is important to me.
I want a friend that accepts me when I am happy or depressed, fat or skinny, stylish or comfy, poor or wealthy.
I need friends that don't gossip about me when I don't look or dress perfect.
I will love and be loyal to any friend that can promise me the same.
Having said that, I am looking forward to starting my new endeavor of finding true friends that I can grow and explore with for the rest of my life.
Life is too short to waste on tearing others down or having fake friends.
"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
- Mother Teresa

XOXO, Alecia

Blog slacker much?

My bad!
Not that I've seriously disappointed anyone by depriving them of my valuable insight.. haha
So much has been going on since May there is a lot to catch up on! I'll make it semi-brief.
1. We moved out of my mom's and are currently living with my aunt and uncle, just a few blocks away.
2. Mike lost his job that he has had pretty much his whole working life, which was really hard for him. BUT, he did get a job at US Synthetic through SOS staffing though, which is a huge blessing!
3. Milo still isn't crawling yet, which has me a bit worried, but he is sooooooo close. He can get anywhere he wants to go, but I couldn't tell you in words how he does it. It would be a combination of scooting, rolling, sliding, pushing, and pumping. haha
4. I have really kick started my goal of being a photographer. I started my own blog for my photography adventures and maybe someday I will actually make it a business. I don't feel confident enough in my ability to charge people yet. Hopefully someday I will because heaven knows we need the extra money!
5. My Grandpa Christensen had a stroke. This was really hard for me. I have always felt a disconnect from my dad's side of the family since moving out of my dad's and into my mom's when I was a kid, but lately its been really tough. Grandpa always accepted and loved me unconditionally and I felt it without a doubt. My passion for photography was largely because of his natural gift for photography. He never edited his photos and they were still calendar worthy. It is so hard to think that he may never be back to the way I remember and that he might have to be in an assisted living facility for the rest of his life. I've had such a hard time with that lately. But I know he is still the same Grandpa I love.
6. I am done with my first year of college at University of Phoenix! This is weird to me because I put school off for so long. It has been such a wild ride, but I am so glad I challenged myself to stick with it. I am trying to figure out what I want to declare as my major, because I am not as passionate about teaching Elementary school as I used to be. I took a psychology class and couldn't get enough of it! I was online studying way more than what was required, that should tell you something! Maybe I'll be a psychologist.. but how do I feel about that? :)
7. I have completely quit coke and all soda, besides diet coke. haha Hey! I have to have caffeine because I am the queen of migraines from hell. Diet coke gives me caffeine but has no sugar or calories! My goal is to still continue to lose weight (I've lost 10 pounds so far) so that I can be completely healthy before we even start to think about having another baby. And no I'm not dropping a hint about anything haha
8. I have started reading two new series of books. Yes, books!! I read on my spare time, what?? I was surprised too. I started to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is the start of a series. I have also started the Sookie Stackhouse novels, which is what the series "True Blood" is based on. I haven't read terribly far in either book, but I love them both so far. I just have to choose which one to finish first.
9. Milo's first birthday is coming up in a month! I am already starting to plan it! I am most likely going to do a cute monster theme, since he has always been our Milo monster. So the colors will be lime green, blue, and brown. I am really excited for it! :)
Here is a sample of an invitation I designed on tiny prints.

XOXO, Alecia

New look, same great taste!

Ok maybe not taste.. haha
Today is the first day of transforming the insecure Alecia into a blazing hot mama!
I don't want to change who I am, except maybe improve some flaws of course. I just want to be comfortable in my own skin. I don't want to be ashamed to take Milo swimming because of my insecurities in my body.
Mike and I both decided we want to be more healthy, if for nothing else than Milo's sake. Notice I said healthy, not skinny! I don't want to be obsessed with the number on the scale.
The truth is, I have been dreading any weather that requires me to take off my baggy hoody and jeans..
Thank goodness for this rainy weather right! :)
Despite my self-consciousness, Mike forced me to go to Ross (love that store) and buy a shirt that made me feel sexy.
Approximately 14 shirts later, I found one that disguised by post-baby pooch and brought the attention upward. I wore it to Mike's sister's house for a get-together and let me tell you..
That was the first time I restored faith in this body of mine.
I. felt. cute. (maybe a little hot, but let's not push it)
So since that is now the only shirt I feel super in, we went back and swept the clearance section and found a 6-dollar dress that is also dynamite. It has gathers at the waist making it flow away from my body right at my poochy tummy area and comes back in right above the knee. Not to mention the top is black and white striped with an adorable ruffle that really is flattering! Someday I'll post a picture.. haha
I wore that last night to Mike's sister's again and WOW! I straightened my hair, wore heels, and felt amazing.
As vain as this may sound, you know it is so true! A rockin piece of clothing that accentuates your favorite parts of your body can make you feel like a totally new person!
Ok so this blog is starting to sound like me obsessing over my body.. yuck I hope not!
The point of this blog post was to tell everyone (mainly myself) that I am taking charge of my life one stellar dress at a time.
Today is Day 1 of Alecia and Mike doing the Dukan Diet. I bought the book and thoroughly read the reasoning behind the food choices and I have to say, it really makes sense to me.
Unlike the Atkins diet that lets you eat an unlimited amount of fatty stuff like mayonnaise, butter, bacon etc, the Dukan Diet was specifically created to be realistic and not drastically alter your regular lifestyle.
Here's a brief summary:


Phase One: Attack
The Attack phase consists of pure protein products and creates a kick-start to the diet. During this phase, you can eat 72 high-protein foods enabling immediate and noticeable weight loss.
Phase Two: 
The Cruise phase will take you to your True Weight. During this phase you will gradually but steadily lose weight by alternating Pure Protein days and Protein + Vegetables days. The average length of this phase is based on a schedule of 3 days for each pound you want to lose.
Phase Three:
The Consolidation Phase is designed to prevent the rebound effect by gradually returning previously forbidden foods and allowing for two “celebration" meals per week. This phase follows a strict timeline – 5 days per every pound lost in Cruise Phase.
Phase Four:

This phase is the rest of your life! To keep your newly found body, you must follow these three simple but non-negotiable rules:

1. Consume 3 Tablespoons of oat bran per day.
2. Choose to take the stairs whenever possible.
3. Have a pure-protein Thursday, i.e. Attack Phase menu.

That sums it up! There are obviously more details on the website found here. 

This morning I had egg whites seasoned with pepper and onion salt topped with non-fat cheddar cheese. On the side I had a cup of non-fat cottage cheese and a non-fat strawberry banana yogurt. I was expecting to have to gag down every meal, but I actually really loved it. Knowing you are eating healthy and having it taste good is the best feeling. 
For those of you who are interested in my little journey, I am going to be posting recipes on here that I love. Even if you don't want to do the entire diet, these meals are healthy for anyone with any condition, even pregnant women! For lunch/dinner today I am going to try Garlic & Cheese stuffed chicken. mmmmmmmm :)


On a side note, Milo is sitting up all on his own and now drinks out of a sippy cup and attempts to eat finger foods. :) Can you believe he is EIGHT months old! Ugh! I can't!
XOXO, Alecia (aka soon-to-be blazing hot mama)

Satan works in pretty obvious ways..

Isn't that so true?
Sometimes, I admit, Satan working on you can be a gradual thing but it always is when you are trying to live your life right!
Last October, I was on request for Milo at the NICU and fell asleep watching it in the pumping room. (tmi.. sorry)

This April conference, Mike and I spent all day Saturday in the ER.

All day Sunday we were both falling asleep through conference.. Mike has an excuse because he was loopy on pain meds and they knocked him out. But I don't have an excuse.

I. feel. pathetic... ugh.
I need a swift kick in the pants to get me out of this funk I've been walking around in!
Young moms are supposed to have energy to clean the house, take care of the baby, have dinner on the table, make baby blankets, remodel gross bathrooms, yada yada yada!
Did I miss the sign up sheet for magic mommy medicine?
Cuz, I need some.
Although I did see this picture today that made me feel better about my messy house:

Ok I'm done complaining. I did watch a few talks on Sunday and one that stood out to me was Elder Lynn G. Robbins. He said, "To do without to be is hypocrisy." He went on to talk about the Savior and that people would flatter Him with their lips, but were not honoring Him with their hearts.
Going to church, going visiting teaching, and paying tithing are all things to do to be faithful. Without faith in Christ and His church, these actions do not have personal meaning.
This seriously opened my eyes and made me take a step back.
If a week comes and goes without going to church, I kick myself all day because I'm worried about what the ward will think and what my mom will think. I'm sad to admit that most of the time, I'm not worried about my relationship with Christ, which trumps everything.
I definitely have a personal relationship with my Savior, and I want to strengthen that relationship every day.
So here is my to be list:
{I want to be diligent in learning, both in the Gospel and in school. I want to base my testimony on knowledge and faith through learning and searching. I want to open my mind to new information in school so I can be a better mother and wife.}
{I want to be selfless. When a situation presents itself to serve someone, I want to have a deep desire to help them at all costs and put myself in their shoes so I can have a deeper love for people, especially my family. Something I want to do that requires being selfless is accepting a calling in my ward and going to any opportunity to serve, such as helping someone move, service projects, donating food for the scouts, etc.}
{I want to be more friendly and outgoing. Something I've struggled with about going to church is the social aspect. Friends from high school would probably be surprised, but that is just the point. I'm not a social butterfly like I was in high school. I really have no desire to talk to people I don't know because I'm not comfortable with it. I know that by being so self-interested, I close myself off to people and reject a possibility to serve or comfort someone else. I want to be friendly so I can better serve others, especially in my ward.}
{I want to be more unconditionally loving and accepting and less judgmental. I hope I'm not the only person who admits to passing a few judgments and feeling horrible about it later, but I definitely need to work on that. I don't want to be outgoing to people for no reason. I want to love them unconditionally and be willing to sacrifice for someone besides myself.}
After I BEcome these things, I want to DO these things:
[Pay a full tithe, as hard as it can be in this economy. I want to have faith in the Lord as I do so.]
[Go to church every week. Not because I guilt myself into going, but because I am earnest to learn more about the Gospel and practice my faith.]
[Receive a calling in the church. I want to have a passion for serving and for knowledge.]
[Teach my children about the Gospel. I want to teach them about it because of my testimony of its truth and the power of faith and prayer in my personal life.]
I'm a sucker for lists, I think I've finally made one worth writing.
XOXO, Alecia
ps. Milo is now eating SOLIDS! He loves squash, bananas, carrots, rice cereal, and sweet potatoes! {He's not sure about peas, not that I blame him}

Fluff

That is what my blog is made of I'm afraid. Someday I hope to change that into something more meaningful than what I want my bathroom to look like (see my last blog lol). I read so many blogs and am inspired by beautiful people writing the simplest of things in such extraordinary ways and it blows. my. mind.
Why can't I be that stinkin creative and intuitive? Not fair.
I have been thinking about so many things lately and I think this will be my semi-private therapy sesh with myself. Here we go.
I am currently going to school at University of Phoenix. (totally expensive but also very convenient)
My major is Elementary Education. My entire life I have pretended to be a teacher in front of a classroom full of kids that looked up to me. I moved all of my furniture in my room to match my favorite teacher's classroom in 4th grade. Her name was Mrs. Hauser and she drank diet coke and was gorgeous.
So I wore pencil skirts and fake glasses and drank diet coke to perhaps steal her coolness factor.
The only problem is I don't know if I am that passionate about teaching anymore. I loved it when I was a kid and I loved teaching dance in high school, but my heart is elsewhere now.
All I can think about lately is photography, graphic design, weddings, and interior design. For a number of reasons:
1. I want to take amazing pictures of milo as he grows up.
2. Making cute wedding invites with graphic design sounds like a hobby, not a job.
3. Who doesn't love the magic of weddings? Planning my own was a fantasy.
4. I'm obsessed with the DIY network. Bathtastic is my favorite show. I love visualizing houses for what they can be.
5. All of these jobs could potentially make a LOT more than an elementary school teacher.
6. I love beautiful, creative things. I want to surround myself with inspiring things that trigger me to be a better version of myself.
Sooo I'm gonna change my major.
To what, I have no idea yet.
I'll get back to you.
:]

Someday...

I will make these for Milo..

And these for his cute legs..

My bedroom wall will look like this.

My bathroom will look like this.

 

I will take pictures like these..

with this camera :]

XOXO, Alecia

3/29/2011

That is when my milk expires.

That is also when Tangled comes out on Blu-Ray!!!

So if I drink my milk super fast, the 29th will come faster :]

That's my theory anyway ;]

Happiness is homemade :]

I am so proud of myself!
I made a really yummy dinner that I didn't steal the recipe from my mom! Woo!
I'm calling them...
Alecia's [AWESOME] Enchiladas <3
I guess I'm not that awesome since I forgot to take pictures! Gah!
Oh well here is the recipe for you cooker mamas out there!
Ingredients:
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat, cut into chunks
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1/4 teaspoon chili powder (to taste)
1 tablespoon butter (you can add more to taste)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
1 (1.25 ounce) package mild taco seasoning mix
1 bunch green onions, chopped
Hint: If you want to know how to chop fresh green onions look here. Don't feel silly, I wouldn't put this link on here if I didn't have to google it myself :]
1 cup water
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
(If you don't have garlic or onion powder, garlic or onion salt still works great! That's what I had to do!)
5 (12 inch) flour tortillas (burrito size)
3 cups cheddar cheese, shredded and divided in half
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives
Directions:
1. Place the chicken in a large pot and add enough water to cover the chicken. (Hint: this isn't where the 1 cup of water goes.) Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the chicken pieces aren't pink, about 5-10 minutes.
2. Shred chicken by placing two forks back to back and pulling meat apart. (Hint: The fork trick didn't work too great for me. If you have tongs and a fork, it seems to work better. ALSO, if chicken isn't finely shredded, it still works.) Cover pot with chicken and set aside, off of heat.
3. Combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and chili powder in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, then turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.
4. Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion. Cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. (I like my onions really soft so I leave it for an extra minute or two.)
5. Strain the water from the chicken. Add the shredded chicken, chopped green chilies, taco seasoning, half the bunch of green onion, and 1 cup of water. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes, then stir in the lime juice, onion powder, and garlic powder. Simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Stir 1 cup of the soup mixture into the skillet with the chicken mixture. Spread the remaining soup mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
7. Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the chicken filling before folding the tortillas, reserving half of the shredded cheese for topping the enchiladas.
(Hint: I used way more then the suggested cheese and it was divine.)
Fold tortillas over the filling and place seam-side down in the prepared pan.
8. Pour enchilada sauce evenly over the enchiladas. Cover with the remaining cheese. Sprinkle the remaining chopped green onions (optional: I didn't), and the sliced olives on top of the cheese. Bake in the preheated oven until filling is heated through and the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 25 minutes.


So I know that wasn't really that simple but it is sooooo worth it. This is Mike's new favorite  meal I've ever made for him. Pretty sweet if you ask me. :]
Some side notes on this recipe:
-If you want more spice, you can buy medium or hot taco seasoning instead of mild.
-You can also add more chili powder to crank up the heat. 
-If you don't like green onions, I think it would taste fine without them because of the yellow onions that are already in there. I've never made it without so I don't know for sure, but hey if you don't want green onions, let me know how it goes!
-Instead of dealing with shredding the chicken (the most time-consuming part), you could cube the raw chicken in smaller pieces and just use them as small chunks.
I hope that makes this recipe easier!