Merry Christmas to all!

one year and 25 lbs

It's been about a year since I started getting serious again about losing weight.  I haven't checked in since September because, well, I haven't really lost more than a couple pounds since then. I've been ranging from 171-173 the last few weeks, but for posting purposes, we're going to go with 171 here.  :)

One-year check-in:

   starting weight (Dec 15, 2011): 196
   current weight: 171
   goal weight: 160
   pounds lost: 25
   pounds to go: 11

That's 25 lbs in a year!  Not super speedy, but I also don't plan on gaining any of that back since I lost it so slowly. Here's a fun little photo comparison.

Now I just need to maintain it through a holiday work lunch at yummy Italian restaurant, Christmas at mom's, and a ring of pecan kringle that's calling my name in my freezer. Then it'll be time to get back on the wagon to see what I can accomplish in 2013.

Big E's Holiday Program

our little rudolph in a sea of elves

dada and brother's biggest fan

em looking cute in her new christmas outfit from grandma

posing with brother the red-nosed reindeer

pure joy

Here are a couple of videos of Big E practicing Jingle Bells and his school's new fight song, which the kids debuted at the holiday performance!

Breakfast with Santa

Breakfast with Santa is always fun, right?  I get to pose in the big jolly man's chair...

wear a Santa hat and take more pictures with my sister...

and sit on his cozy lap and tell him all I want for Christmas and that I've been a good boy.

And then my sweet little sister joins me on his lap...

for about two seconds before throwing her hands up and arching her back, turning Santa into a furry slip-n-slide.

I'm not sure you're getting that meowing cat you wanted.  We'll try again next year, sis.

Dancing Queen [18 months]

 

 

Miss Em is 18 months! How blessed we are to have such a smart, lively, funny girl in our lives. We should call her goldilocks because look at those blond curls! Maybe we have a future in shampoo ads. 

 

Dance class is in our near future because girlfriend loves to get down!  If she hears a few beats, she'll stop whatever she's doing and start bouncing around.  Makes my heart so happy.

 

She's making new sounds daily. She can tell you when she needs to be changed and just went in the potty for the second night in a row! Her words are currently limited to please, ball, help, more, hello/yellow, and hi, but I can tell she's just on the brink of talking up a storm.

 

She just started in the Toddler 2 room with her teachers Ms. Linda, who watched Big E when he was a baby, and Miss Carissa, who watched him in the school age room.  It's really nice to feel such a sense of family at our day care. Her best buddy is Sutton.  He likes to dance too.

 

These pictures were the hardest to get.  She cannot seem to stay still for as long as it takes for a flash to go off on my camera. 

 

Em loves her stuffed animals - especially her pink sock monkey.  She loves her big dog Padre even more. He gets daily hugs from his little sis.  And then there's her other big brother...

Em loves Big E SO much! She wants to do everything he is doing and vice versa.  These two are my heart and soul.  I am glad they will always have each other.

I love my babies.

Rainy Monday Run

After consuming more food than one person should this weekend, I was determined to run a bit of it off this morning.  I woke up to drizzling rain and decided to go for it. It was the maiden voyage for my new Petzl Tikkina 2 Headlamp.  Surprisingly I felt less like a freight train than I thought I would with that light on my forehead.  It helped me dodge potholes and puddles, but the best part was knowing that cars could actually see me (always a good thing).  I didn't get as soaked as I thought I would, and as an added bonus: you run faster in the rain!  Two 10-minute miles in the books!

Freight train comin'!

My weight has been all over the place lately.  We're talking 4 pound fluctuation up, down, and back up.  This week my goal is to get it back down for good. I read a doc about not eating back your workout calories, so I am going to try that.  It makes sense really, and it abandons the notion that "I worked out, now I can eat what I want".  I am also going to lay off the wine this week and see if it helps (duh).

My Halloweenies

Halloween was such a fun day this year! It started off with a work lunch party, which included a scavenger hunt around downtown to come up with our own spooky story.  However we got a little sidetracked with a Tigger/Astronaut dance-off in the street (Tigger totally took this one.)

Our spooky story isn't much to repeat, but it did end with us tying up our building security guards.  Isn't it a bit worrisome that the only two security guards in our building agree to being tied up together by a bunch of characters on Halloween?  You just can't say no to Tigger.

I left work early to go to Big E's "book character party" at school (when was the last time you read a book about ninjas?)  It was cute to see him interact with his classmates.  I had a breakthrough realization about why he is so wound up and talking nonstop when he comes home from school.  I watched him in his class all tensed up while half of the other first graders are talking at him in full volume.  Like his mom and dad, he's not a large group type of person, so I could see it building up in him and then when he gets home he must let it all out.  I'll try to be more understanding now when he talks my ear off. I couldn't resist asking the three girls at his table if he was a nice boy, and they all answered with an easy YES!  [sidenote: parent-teacher conferences were last week. E is reading at the level he should be, is excelling in math, and his teacher said he was a excellent kid and a role model for the other students! So proud.]

Ok, back to the Halloween recap. Next it was time to go home and get everyone cleaned up and dressed for trick-or-treating.  Here is a shot of my Captain America and little zebra.

Miss Zebra only lasted about four houses before retiring to her stroller with a sucker.  The Captain forged on for an hour or so longer. 

Why no, that is not our neighborhood you see in the photo.  Yes, we are those people who drive to your nice neighborhood with sidewalks and streetlights and friendly homeowners who give handfuls of candy.We get busted each year by a mom of one of E's classmates who will inevitably say "I didn't realize you lived so close to us!"  Um yeah we don't. Thanks for the candy!

And finally, I thought it would be fun to see the kids side-by-side at the same age in their zebra costume (five years apart).  Aren't they cute?  And also a good reminder for mama to not gain those 25 lbs back!

Happy Halloween 2012!

Monday morning injury & a fence

To the driver who ran a Monday morning jogger off the road and didn't slow down after she fell: I hope you do a lot of good deeds today to make up for that!  Otherwise Karma's a sneaky b*tch.

Ugh. Yeah, so that's one way to start the week off.  The worst part was running the mile back home. This is where you earn your running badges, people.

Guess it's time to purchase that headlamp so I can see the side of the road when it's dark out. It's a good look, right?  I bought this blinky thing but it's not nearly as bright as I'd hoped.  The battery may be about dead, but not sure it's worth buying new button cells for it. Oh wells. I'll be looking like a coal miner on my upcoming runs!

----

This weekend we started our first farm project for the new house: a fence! If you want to build in the country, you gotta keep the cows out! 

Isn't it purty? Of course the hubs did most of the hard labor, but I helped hold the hole driller and wire the fence to the posts.  See the diagonal post in the middle?  Hubs just marched down to the creek and cut down a tree for that.  Love it! 

The land should be officially divided in late November, then it's time to start digging a hole!  We are planning on officially listing our house with a Realtor in January with an aggressive price and hopefully the timing will work out well for us. Big leaps of faith!

will run for wine

My toe numbness has disappeared for the time being.  After staying off of it for a week, it started to feel better. I met with a podiatrist and he said it was an inflamed nerve and to ice it after running. He also gave me some anti-inflammatory pills (which I haven't taken yet). "Inflamed nerve" sounds much better than the "damaged nerve" term I had in my head.  I've been on a few 3-mile runs since then and thankfully no issues so far!

I have been hovering around 173-174 for a month or more now (see - I told you this was my happy weight), and I'm ready to get down to the 160s.  That means...

• Healthy salads for lunch this week
• Run or 30 Day Shred each day
• Water, water, water!
• No wine.  Ha just kidding!  I'll run an extra couple miles for my wine!

-----

It's been a beautiful fall so far. Last weekend we tricked the kids into thinking we were going to a pumpkin patch and instead stopped by a winery. Ok, so we went to the pumpkin patch too. Gotta have something for everyone! I really love my little family.

dinosaurs & money

I finally got a video of Em acting out her favorite song!




And this is what happens when I turn on the video function on my phone and give it to big E. I'm thinking he needs his own podcast series.

fireside chats

This girl is going to be trouble, I can tell.

lame

You realize how much you take your feet for granted when one of them is suddenly not functioning properly. Friday I started getting a feeling of numbness on one of my toes. It was off and on so I didn't think much of it. Over the weekend it slowly became more constant, and now today at work I don't feel like I can walk on the ball of my foot.  It's not painful really, just alarming that my toe is numb.  I've self-diagnosed it as Morton's neuroma.  Wikipedia has amusingly pointed out that I am in good company with fellow sufferers Steven Tyler and Patrick Duffy, as well as a Golden Girls episode where Dorothy had surgery for her Morton's neuroma.  I guess AARP was right when they sent me that membership card last week.

I'm not amused either, Dorothy.

I'm signed up for a 5k this weekend, but I guess they'll just get my donation. I made an appointment with a podiatrist for next Wednesday, and I feel like I should take it easy until then.  Sad.  What kind of exercises can you do without using your feet?  Water aerobics? Tried that once and I was the youngest person by about 30 years. Awkward and barely a workout. Swimming? I only float around and crave frozen fruity drinks when I'm in the pool. Plus, it's fall.  Rowing machine? Stationary bike?  Maybe, but I'll have to go the gym, and I only belong to a kickboxing gym.  I guess I'll just use my little hand weights for now while I figure out something. Maybe I'll try squats and crunches too. I miss running already. :(

munchkin update

Big E

Almost 6 1/2 and in first grade, E is a high energy kid.  On a scale of 1-10, his volume level is often at 11.  He's super funny, super nice to his friends and super smart. His favorite subject is math.  He struggles with reading a little bit, but is trying hard to learn. We read almost every night and started working on flash cards for sight words. I fell like he will be rainman when it comes to math - just like his dad. The numbers just seem to come to him. He's also very interested in space, which I've learned freaks me out. Anyone else get anxiety talking about space?

E's a hard one to get to stand still for more than a second, but here's a short interview I managed to film.

Em

At 16 months, Em loves music, books and drawing.  She'll focus for a long time on anything with buttons to push. There's one toy with a little keyboard on it and I she played the best song for me. She loves Ring Around the Rosy, Old McDonald, and Twinkle Twinkle Dinosaur (with big ROARS and stomping included, which I totally need to get on camera). If she hears music, that little blond head starts bobbing.

Her communication skills are the biggest advances lately.  She can sign for please, thank you, and milk, and can say "baa" for sheep, "ma" for more/milk, and nods yes or shakes her head no. When you ask her to say the word "please" after she signs it, she'll just make the biggest "cheese" face. It's cute.

I did manage to capture some moments on camera this month.  Loving the easy upload from my phone to YouTube.

Excited for Dada to be home | Eating a lemon | Riding her pony

The best part of all is seeing all the sibling love. They love to wrestle and hug. Em wants anything her big bro is playing with, and sometimes he'll even let her have it. These two sure keep us busy and it's hard work, but I can't imagine life without them. Yup, we're pretty much moving to wherever they go after college. 

september check-in

I've been keeping up my running schedule pretty well.  I try to run 2 miles 2-3 times through the week and 3 miles on the weekend. I set a new PR on distance and speed last week: 9:56 min on my first mile and ran a total 3.5 miles!  Usually I'm at a 10:30-11:30 pace, so I don't know what got into me!  Must be that cool fall air.

It is one thing to run on a straight road or trail with no real feeling of distance. It is quite another thing to run to your son's best friend's house three neighborhoods away and back.  It was only 1.3 miles each way, but it felt like I was so far away from home.  Thinking my watch must be off, I started to get a little anxious about it and turned back before I reached 1.5 miles out. Still a good run for mid-week and Ethan couldn't believe that I ran to his friend's house! He asked if he could come next time, and I told him when he can run around his school trail 12 times without stopping, he could run with me.  That should hold him for a while. (He of course can take his bike on my shorter runs.)

These last couple of pounds have been stubborn, but when I dropped down this morning, I thought I better put it in writing. 

Weight check-in:

   starting weight (Dec 15, 2011): 196
   current weight: 174.4
   goal weight: 160
   pounds lost: 21.6
   pounds to go: 14.4

I'm definitely at my comfortable weight. I have never known anything lower than this.  But I am still motivated to push myself into unknown territory.  I started my water weight cleanse again. I really missed it and it's so good for a re-jump start!

Bought this dress when I was 180 and it was quite snug.  Slipped it on this morning and have room to spare! Holler!

Sept 2012

Flashback! Nov 2011

house for sale

The last few months we have started working harder towards our dreamhouse. We want to build on a piece of family land, but of course that is easier said than done. 

We found our builder and house model we loved, then met with the county, the bank, the highway department, and water department. And just when we were going to list our house, we discovered that it is next to impossible to get a new home appraised for the mortgage on more than 10 acres because there are no comps. So we are currently in the process of dividing off 9 acres, and are stuck waiting on the surveyors who are taking their sweet time.

We met with a couple of realtors and realized (like most sellers) our house was not going to bring what we were hoping for.  With the realtor commissions and closing costs, we were probably going to have to bring money to the table to sell our home of 10 years. Since we are not currently in a time crunch to sell, I went ahead and made a website for our home and listed it on craigslist to see if we could sell it without a realtor.  I'm not for sure what we'd actually do if we got an offer at this point, but we'd figure something out.

We have lived here for nearly a decade.  This is where we brought home our first puppy, our baby boy and our baby girl. We've redone nearly every surface on the home, from backsplashes to toilets.  It's a wonderful home for a young family starting out. We are just ready to move on to the next chapter.

new running shoes!



I've been wanting to get professionally fitted for running shoes for a while now, and thanks to a coupon I picked up at Race for the Cure, I discovered there is a Gary Gribble's in Independence!  I finally made it in last weekend and after some fittings, discovered my right foot is a half size larger than my left!  Who knew? I also have issues with getting blisters on my pinky toes, so I took the sales person's advice and got a half size larger than I usually do.  And ta-da! Here are my new running buddies!



 

Aren't they lovely? So lightweight and so much room for my tootsies! The sales guy showed me a fancy way of lacing up the shoe on my smaller foot so I don't have any slippage issues on my heel. I've been on two runs so far in my new shoes - 2 miles and 3 miles - and haven't had any issues with my pinky toes like before.  It feels a little strange having so much room up front, but I love them!  I'm starting to feel like a real runner now!  

 

Who doesn't want to run with a morning view like this?  Good morning, neighbor horses.

 

 

motivation

Here is my motivation to eat healthy foods (no junk)...

• because I could run every day and still not lose a pound unless I control my food intake.
• because I have more energy and feel better when I eat real foods!

to get up early and RUN...

• because running 30 minutes burns 300 calories and I usually drop a pound after 3 miles.
• because running makes me not want to drink diet soda.
• because my 10-year-old lab is like a puppy with all the exercise he gets.
• because I rarely get sick when I'm consistently working out.
• because by running in the morning, I am not missing out on family or couple time.
• because the average runner peaks after 7 years, and I'm still on my way up! 

and ultimately to lose 20-30 more pounds!

• to be a role model and healthy mom for my kids, and eventually a healthy grandma for my grandkids.
• to wear coral skinny jeans (or any color really, but definitely a single digit size.)
• to wear a bikini for the first time in public.
• to hear the hubs refer to me as his "hot wife." (I will also accept "arm candy" or "trophy wife.")
• to have more confidence. I wonder if I will still fumble over words as much when i'm not worried about someone's eyes dropping down to my belly roll?
• to get more doors opened for me (virtual and real-life doors.)
• to prove it to myself.

Weight check-in:

   starting weight (Dec 15, 2011): 196
   current weight: 177
   goal weight: 160
   pounds lost: 19
   pounds to go: 17

Over half way to my first goal!

water weight cleanse review

I've been on a summer hiatus from focusing on losing weight, and I decided I needed something to jumpstart my routine again.  I found a pin for Jillian Michael's water weight cleanse and decided it was something I could easily do.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of 100% cranberry juice
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 dandelion root tea bag (I'd make a mug of the tea and pour it in)
60 oz of water

Drink the entire concoction each day for 7 days, and you get to eat normal otherwise.  Easy peasy, right?  Here are my results!

Monday: 182 lbs. It actually tastes pretty good, kind of like a diluted lemon tea.  But I felt so water logged all day. Didn't know if I was going to be able to get it all down.  I'm definitely not used to drinking so much water. Ran 1.25 miles and made it through the day with sugar!

Tuesday: 179.8 lbs. Felt much better drinking the tea all day.  Didn't really feel like I "needed" my coffee as much as I usually do in the morning. Ran 1.75 miles. No sugar, but I overloaded on carbs for dinner with my yummy new Orzo recipe.

Wednesday: 179.6 lbs. Felt super energetic drinking my tea all day. Really didn't want my morning coffee and finished my 60 oz still wanting more.  Took a break from running and had filet and carrots for dinner!

Thursday: 179 lbs. (and 178.6 lbs after my 2 mile run! now there's a good reason to get your butt up and run!) Still loving my tea, but had a happy hour after work and ate french fries for dinner. Boo!

Friday: 179.4 lbs. Trying to shed the guilt of my happy hour fries and wine. Today is a new day!

Saturday: 178.8 lbs.  Woot! This is fantastic! Weekends are usually when I drink the least amount of water just because we're always out and about. I made it a point to fill up my 32 oz mug with the tea and take it with me. I finished my second mug when we got home. I had a carb-heavy dinner because I was running a 5k Sunday morning.  I need the energy!

Sunday: 181.2 lbs. The carbs had their way with me, but I had a good run. Feeling really good all day and actually left the tea out of the water.  Just drank cranberry & lemon water.  Worked my booty off cleaning the house and ate well most of the day.

Monday: 180.8 lbs. So overall I lost just over a pound.  Not as much as I had hoped, but I am taking a renewed love of water with me.  I splashed some lemon and cranberry in my water this morning and before I knew it I had drank 60 oz before 10 am. 

After reading the 5 reasons to drink lemon water in the morning, I think I'll keep up this habit for a while.  I do feel a lot better, less bloated, and I have a lot more energy throughout the day.  Haven't had a soda in over a week either - and don't miss it!

Race for the Cure 2012

orlando & daytona!

[Took a little summer break from blogging.  I can't believe my big boy starts first grade next week! Oh how times flies! Here's a recap from our trip to Florida in May!]

Orlando



End of the day. Soggy. And yes,
Big E is shooting the camera guy.

We took a family trip at the end of May to Orlando and Daytona Beach. We did one day at Magic Kingdom, and it rained on us almost the entire day thanks to a tropical storm.  Baby girl did an amazing job sleeping in her stroller with her feel hanging out in the rain. The rest of us had ponchos on and made the most of it.

The kids both loved It's a Small World and Pirates of the Carribbean.  As we were leaving, the person at the exit asked if we had met Mickey yet. Well, no. There goes another hour of waiting in line, but it was worth it!


Meeting Mickey and Minnie!

After we left the mouse's theatre, the skies had cleared and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful evening.  Only an hour or so until the parade, and then another hour until fireworks.  That's not so bad, right? 

We had one foot out the front gates as the fireworks began.  We survived. It was fun. And I think we're good for a few years on Disney.  I really don't understand the Disney-obsessed who must go there every year. Maybe it is better when it's not pouring rain? Although I'd take that over a heat wave any day.


Daytona Beach

Next it was on to the relaxing part of our vacation: the beach!  Seriously, why didn't we head here first and stay? Oh the lure of the mouse. 

We checked in to the wonderful Bahama House.  C'mon, free breakfast, free happy hour, and there's a beach too?  Awesome. Also, the balcony was huge, the room was large with a full kitchen and plenty of room for baby girl's crib. It was perfect.


The view from our room at Bahama House.

We loved Daytona Beach too. I had totally underestimated it based on the "time warp" comments I kept reading everywhere.  There is a slight time warp, but there is so much to do, the people are so nice and the food is so good. Plus you can drive on the beach!  We spent one naptime going through a drive-thru and eating our lunch while we drove the minivan rental down the beach.  Lovely! 



Ice cream truck driving down Daytona Beach.

Baby girl didn't know what to think of the beach at first. I mean, it was squishy under her feet, water kept splashing at her, and it left a weird gritty aftertaste. But once she figured out that it wasn't food, she absolutely loved it! 

Letting the waves tickle her toes.

I absolutely love these two yahoos!

His biggest fan.

We had one more important task before we left Daytona: renew our vows on the beach.  It had been a gorgeous day, but when it came time to go to the ceremony the clouds started forming and there were storms headed our way. We did a last-minute location change to a gazebo near the beach, but it turned out the storms stayed away and we still got to take photos down on the sand. 

Our wedding day ~ May 31, 2012

Our first wedding was 10 years ago. We've had to overcome some big stumbling blocks, but look where we are now! Two beautiful kids and still crazy in love with my best friend.

Our wedding day ~ June 29, 2002

end of summer check-in

While I did make my mini-goal of 180 by the time we went to Florida in May, I've just been maintaining over the summer.  Time to get my butt back in gear!  My new mini-goal is 170 by November for our New Orleans trip.

To jump-start and refocus my efforts, I am trying out a water weight cleanse. It's going well so far! I will type up a review after I've completed it.

Weight check-in:

  starting weight (Dec 15, 2011): 196
  current weight: 179
  goal weight: 160
  pounds lost: 17
  pounds to go: 19

Wow! I didn't realize I had lost as much as I did! Almost half-way to my major goal!

lady bug birthday party [Emma is ONE!]

Sweet baby girl is ONE! What a wonderful year is has been. I have tried my best to soak in every single moment with my sweet pea. I average about 300 photos and videos a month (triple backed up of course), so not too many moments went by without proper documentation. 

Her birthday party theme was lady bugs.  I didn't have too much other than her shirt, cake and balloon. Everything else was just red and black, but it all looked cute together.

I got my craft on and made these ladybug invites.  I think they turned out pretty cute. They were fairly simple to make, just required some new supplies since I'm not an everyday crafter.

Our Lady Bug is turning ONE!

          Her super-cute birthday shirt custom made by The Sassy Squirrel.

Her amazing lady bug cake created by Nellie's Custom Cakes.

Cute little daisy smash cake. All white, of course.

Her party was a lot of fun with family and friends.  She wasn't too sure about everyone singing to her and staring at her to eat her cake. Once everyone started eating their own cake, she got into it a little bit.

She received some beautiful handmade clothes and fun toys. She got a little kitchen that sings a lot of cute songs and the night of her party she started dancing and hasn't stopped since! She does a little side-to-side swing move and the classic bounce.  She just can't hold it in once she hears the music. 

The next day was Mother's Day. We went to Grammy's for a shrimp boil and then baby girl played and danced in the pasture while the boys fished in the pond.

In the last month, she has gotten her two top teeth, some blond curls, started pointing and making new sounds, and... drumroll... started walking!! She started out very hesitant, but now she jumps up and goes as fast as she can a few steps and then falls. She can go the length of the driveway if she's really focusing. She loves playing with balls and bubbles.  She makes the "buh" sound for both, as well as for her bottle.  She's kind of a tom boy too.  Loves to get dirty and play with (and eat) sticks and rocks. 

The photo below was taken in April. It's amazing how much she grew in a few weeks! The new little blond curls make a lot a difference. 

This blue dress was mine when I was her age.  Mom found it while cleaning out the barn - so glad she did!  It looks adorable on Miss Em! I call it the Shirley Temple dress.

And just one more because she's so cute.  Here she is lounging while mom drinks her coffee the Saturday morning of big brother's birthday party.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! We love you SOOO much!!