BLC Update…

Look at that, 3 posts in one day! There’s only one thing that can explain it: boredom. I am sitting at the car dealer, waiting. Thank goodness I had the foresight to bring my laptop to kill some time and was able to get on a network!

So last week was the first week of the Biggest Loser Challenge (BLC) that I am in. I think it went really well! I am counting calories and working out. I think I am actually not eating enough to tell you the truth considering how much I have been working out. I need to find the correct balance. I don’t want to eat too few calories and make my body think that it’s starving and think that it should hold onto the massive fat cells I have.

I must be doing something right though because I did see a loss! The official documented loss was 2.5 pounds. It was hard to get a good weight because the first weigh-in was at night. I wanted to try to keep up with that so there wasn’t a gain the last week. My scale showed a 3.5 pound loss but I wanted to officially show low so there you have it!

Week one was a success. Now if the rest of the weeks will show losses as well! I figure if I can get past the first 3 or 4 weeks I will be doing good. It is a lifestyle change and I can honestly say that it’s been a little easier than I expected but I haven’t put myself to full tests though. Cakes, cookies, holidays, etc. I know I won’t cut out all of the stuff I love but eat it in moderation and on occasion.

Seeing the scale go down is exhilarating! I know not every day will be a loss and that’s ok. Even if I don’t win the competition, I am still a winner because I will have lost weight and gained some self-confidence.

It’s official!

I am going to be an AUNT again!

The total count for grand kids: 
3 girls, 3 boys and one on the way

The funny thing is that 6 will have been within the past 3 years!

Seriously people, haven’t you heard of birth control!!!! 😉

Honestly I do love my growing family. Especially since Emily will probably be an only child. I want her to be surrounded by lots of cousins. She’ll have a whole village of cousins at this rate!

Happy Birthday Ben!!!

Yesterday was my nephew’s first birthday! I don’t know where the time went! It seems that he was just born a few months ago. I am sad that I don’t get to see him more. He seems to be bigger every time I see him. Visits are too far between.

His party was last Saturday. Nothing puts a damper on a birthday party than having to leave early because you are puking. I was so sad that I wasn’t able to visit with my family for longer. I am even more bummed that poor Emily didn’t get more time to play with her cousins. My biggest disappointment was that I didn’t get to see Ben rip into his birthday cake. But regrets are futile. You can’t change what happened. My family knows I love them and I would have stayed longer if I wasn’t feeling like my insides were being ripped out of me.

From what I hear, it was a good party and everyone had fun.  Ben is such a cute little boy! I could just bring him home with me. Emily would learn to share…..eventually.

Happy Birthday Benny Boo!!!! We all love you!

Yummy! Cake!

PS- Thanks for sending me some pictures Tiffany!!! Sorry I missed all the fun!

Earth Day

Earth Day was this past Wednesday. It’s a day for awareness and appreciation for the Earth and the environment. It’s hard to explain exactly what Earth Day is to a 2 year old.

On Wednesday, we read about recycling and talked about being less wasteful. Emily loves to throw stuff into the recycle bin. She gets that some stuff goes in there and some doesn’t. Our Earth Day project revolved around something Emily loves: flowers. She loves flowers. Real or fake, she wants to smell them all! So this activity was right up her alley.

We went to Lowes so she could pick out some flowers to plant. Of course she picked some pink ones! She loved digging in the dirt to plant them. Every time we go outside she has to “smell pretty flower”. It was a good day!

Flower Power

This cool little activity was found on PreschoolRock.com. It’s very easy yet kept Emily entertained for some time. There are two awesome things about this activity: 1) She can arrange the flowers over and over again and 2) She can show off her handy work. She is very proud!

All you need is:
flower foam
flower pot
fake flowers

Easy peasy and not messy!

Every day is full of laughter

Some days it’s really hard to keep a straight face with Emily. She is full of laughter and comes up with the funniest stuff. Wednesday was no exception!

After dragging Emily out of the pool after swim lessons, we got dressed. It’s a process when you have two children wanting to play and two moms wanting to chat. Finally got Emily dressed and she was playing with her buddy while I slowly attempted at peeling off my suit. Next thing I knew Emily was next to me saying that she peed her pants. (We have never had an accident in public.)

I always carry a spare pair of undies and pants and Wednesday was no exception. The only problem was they were in the car. I attempted to wrap the driest towel we had around her waist after I took of her wet pants. Luckily she had on a longer shirt. She took off running down the hall and left the towel in the dust. I gave up. It was a short walk to the car so we headed out. As we got to the parking lot Emily looked up at me and said

Mommy, I am so embawassed!

I just about needed to change my pants at that point because I was laughing so hard.

PS- I know embarrassed is spelled wrong. I was typing it how she pronounced it. 😉

Do you hear that?

That’s the sound of my tummy growling! I used to have a snack after Emily went to bed. It was part of our routine. A very unhealthy routine. As of yesterday, that has changed. A lot of stuff is hopefully changing. Eating habits, how I view food, the size of my rump. All good changes.

This is all due to a challenge I entered.  My friend Julie emailed me about joining her “The Biggest Loser” challenge. I was kind of hesitant about it. Was I ready to really make a change and stop whining about my weight?? Was I ready to watch what I eat and not make excuses? On my own, no. I was content with eating crap and loving it. This challenge might be my golden ticket. I was still on the fence. I emailed my friend Cindy about the contest and she was ecstatic. Her enthusiasm was bubbling over and contagious. She made me not dismiss the challenge off the bad. Made me really think about what I wanted. The power of peer pressure! So I am in!

I know I have talked about doing a challenge before and nothing came of it. Sure there was some friendly competition. It died out as early as my resolve to put the ice cream down did. This challenge is different. This one is for money! Lots of money! $200 actually and that can buy a lot of stuff!

Plus I am in a different place now. I am ready. I am ready to lose the weight, get healthy and look good. Sounds like a broken record doesn’t it? It does to me. Anyone who has ever dealt with being overweight can understand though. It’s a vicious cycle. You want to lose weight, you attempt to lose weight and you fall off the wagon. You eat like crap for awhile and decide that you are tired of your pants cutting you in two. Rinse and repeat. I really want to make a change. I think this challenge will help. A group of women helping each other reach their goals. Whether it’s losing 10 pounds or 100 pounds. We are all in the same boat- the fat boat.

I know, for me, that I need to make some changes and look inside to find out why I struggle the way I do. What causes me to eat when I am not hungry? What causes me to load my plate up and eat every bite? I don’t know. At this point, I am not sure how to find the answers. I know I need to look deep inside myself and find out if  I am ever going to make a long lasting change.

I do know a few things though. I don’t want to look like a whale when we go on vacation this summer. I don’t want Emily to be ashamed of me when she is older. I really don’t want to always tell her that I can’t pick her up because she is too heavy and I am a weakling. I want to be around to watch her grow up and live a long life with Stephen. I owe that to the both of them. That is more important than a ding dong any day.

It starts here and now. Yesterday actually. I am in for all the marbles. I need to watch what I eat and exercise. No excuses. This challenge runs 8 weeks. I want to come out the biggest loser and prove to myself that I can do it. If I can do it for 8 weeks, chances are it will be easier to continue after the challenge is over. And I want to make a lifelong change not just a short term one where I end up gaining it all back and more.

Let’s do it!

A great day to play

That’s what this past Friday was.  Spring here has, in a word, sucked. It’s either been cold or raining. We had a few days of nice weather and those days were usually on the days that I worked. And I only work 2 days a week! They were calling for nice weather on Friday so we took advantage! Stephen took the day off and we enjoyed!

Our first stop, after a leisurely morning, was the zoo. Good thing Stephen was adamant about taking the stroller because I think Emily spent more time in there than she did walking. And she dislikes having to give up her independence! We saw lots of animals, rode the train and the carousel and did lots of walking. Emily’s favorite part was seeing the elephants.

After visiting the zoo, we headed over to “The Hill”  for lunch.  Amighetti’s. Need I say more? If you are from this area, you know what I am talking about! Not good for the diet but it sure tastes good. Then we headed over for some famous custard. Ted Drewes to be exact. Because it ain’t a trip to the zoo if you don’t swing over for some of the good stuff!

It was a beautiful day! The weather was nice and everyone had a good time. Finally, a spring day to write home about!

Checking out the elephants

Enjoying her custard

A dandy dandelion

I am always looking for cute craft/art things to do with Emily. As always, No Time for Flash Cards did not disappoint.

I saw this craft awhile back and bookmarked it. I knew I wanted to come back to it when I had a chance. One rainy day last week was the chance I needed. Emily enjoyed this project. I think she liked squeezing the glue more than anything though. She is so proud of the finished product. It’s sitting on our mantle for everyone to see. Usually she makes me take her artwork down so she can drag it around with her hide it or love on it. It’s a keeper!

Getting caught up- odds and ends

I have been neglecting my blog for the past few days for good reason. The weather, minus today, has been BEAUTIFUL!!!! It would be a shame to waste it indoors writing about what we have done instead of doing fun activities! We have had a busy weekend! I’ll get caught up eventually. It’s been raining almost all day today and supposed to be yuck tomorrow too. Boo on that as we were supposed to go to the zoo with our friends.

Here’s a few pictures to get the ball rolling.

Thank you Grandma and Papa! This will keep her entertained!

Kissing Aunt Nina’s new kitty