How To Lose The Post Baby Weight

I have finally figured out how I have lost my post Mckinley weight and now I will share my revolutionary plan with you.

Step 1: Fix some delicious food (cream of wheat, oatmeal, beans, etc.)

Step 2: Make sure your child is at home and either hungry or perhaps they have just eaten a 3 course meal.

Step 3: Go into a room no where near your child to try to eat food (don't worry they will find you).

Step 4: Have small child repeat please or just whine over and over again until you start feeding them your food.

Step 5: You will remember eating (maybe 1 or 2 bites), but you can't figure out why you are so hungry.
Repeat Steps 1-5 all over again.

I guess I should thank Mckinley for being such a great eater because she has been my own personal weight watchers these past few months. 

There is no shame in scarfing down a bowl of cream of wheat in the bathroom is there? Maybe if it is a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup (yes I have done this and you know it is only funny because you have done it too).

Weekend Thoughts

I'm not sure if it is the oh so sweet way my girl says and signs please when she wants something or the fact that I have only had to change her 3 times today because she has been going potty that makes me love my girl more.

Did You Know?

Did you know that if you use cloth diapers your baby will probably get a yeast rash at least once?

Mckinley has actually spent the last 2 months in disposables because she was having constant diaper rash and we thought it was because of her teeth coming in, but come to find out it was a yeast rash. Thankfully we haven't had to smell a disposable diaper in over a month and Mckinley's bottom looks better then it ever has.

That is all because I have learned the absolute best, fast, and easiest way to get rid of the yeast!

We tried bleach before and it worked, but I really don't like bleach to begin with and I was so afraid it would screw up all of my diapers sow e won't be doing that again. Thankfully I have a group of lovely ladies who I can go to with any and all cloth questions and they suggested trying Grapefruit Seed Extract which I found at Whole Foods because that is always my first place to look for anything cloth diaper related. I may not shop for food there because I feel like I am entering Narnia, but anything baby bottom related I rush right over. The bottle I got was roughly $14 and has lasted forever and has been worth every penny spent.

For my first load of yeastey diapers I added 70 drops and now each time I was I add 10-20 drops. From my research I have found that GSE is a natural antimicrobial which kill or inhibit bacteria, fungi, etc. You can also use it internally and externally for many things that I have not attempted just yet, but might try in the near future.

All I know is it works and it is natural so winner winner chicken dinner. 

True Love

True love is when your other half lets you go running while your child won't take an afternoon nap and after that child doesn't take a nap lets you leave early from dinner because your precious child has been an angel for the past few hours especially during the hour wait to sit and eat even after being smacked by the men's room door (momoftheyear) and is starting to throw sippy cups and grab your hand so she can lay her head on your hand.

My God I love you more then you will ever know BPD!

New Year New Do

I am going short people! I just called and booked my hair appointment with Leslie to get all of my hair chopped off the 28th!!!!! I am SO excited and now that I went pretty short this past summer for Pantene's Great Lengths I don't think I will be as scared this time. I already have my outfit picked out for whatever we plan to do for New Years and I know having a new short and sassy hair cut will make it even better! 

June 2012 short with bangs

I am ready for something different and even shorter then last time. I have been pinning pictures on Pinterest for quite some time now and I think it is time to decided which one I like the best. I of course made a collage of some of my favorites, but the funny thing is most of them aren't as short as I have been thinking about going. Here they are in no certain order.

I edited a few out since my initial post and added 1 or 2 new ones in. I still have no clue which one I am going to go with, but my hairdresser will think I am insane if I show up with this many ideas so I need to do some more editing before next Friday.

I am of course scared to be going so short, but I know it is just hair and it will grow back.
 I can't wait to start 2013 so fresh and so clean clean!!

To Potty or Not To Potty that Is The Question

This whole potty training thing is throwing me for a loop! I wasn't ready for this! I didn't think it would start this early! My BABY isn't ready for this!! Or maybe mama is not ready for this. Either way I never thought this would be happening so soon.

Ever since she started telling us she pooped I kept telling Brent we should get a potty just to keep around so she could get used to seeing it when she was ready to start using it. I never imagined she would actually use it the day we brought it home! And I never thought she would be pooping in the darn thing (I warned you there would be some poo posts) I can honestly say #2 is way easier because there are so many warning signs when she needs to go. Many of you may know we use cloth diapers and I have heard from many cloth mama's that potty training cloth babies is easier because they can actually feel the wetness of the diaper meaning they realize when they are wet and I truly believe this now. 

She loves sitting on the potty and gets so excited to go and she even has her little routine down. Go potty, wipe, flush. We wipe every time she sits even if she doesn't go just to stay in the routine, but she really gets it and yes she wipes all by herself and it is hilarious to see this little tiny peanut doing such a grownup thing. 

We have tried wearing panties a few times, but neither of us are quite ready for that just yet. I think once she realizes what the urge to go feels like we can move on to panties, but until then I am thinking about getting some sort of trainers. Maybe some of these Best Bottom Trainers since we already have the inserts.

We might even try something a little different to see what we like and works best for us. Just like cloth diaper options there are so many trainer options to consider. There are trainers with side snaps, flexible panels to make it easier to pull up and down, and then there are regular ole cloth trainers. I will of course be searching Diaper Swappers and Spots Corner for better prices and if experience has taught me anything the older and more loved a cloth diaper the more absorbent they become which I am hoping goes for trainers too.

For now we will just stick with our Froggy Potty

and our Arm & Hammer Potty Seat  

I wasn't planning on buying one of each, but once I realized someone thought jumping up off of the potty half neked to run around the house and peeing on the floor was an awesome game I decided I needed something she couldn't get off of without some awesome acrobatics. I have also found this seat is travel friendly and I like that it is a hard plastic which is much easier to clean than those squishy seats. They may be a little more comfortable, but all I saw was a cute colorful germ farm. We took this seat with us yesterday to my parents house and my mom has taken it with her today. Yes you heard that right my mom is feeling so good she came by and picked up Mckinley and took her to her house so I can clean. I am afraid she is going to wear herself out, but she is kind of stubborn (wonder where I get it from) and demanded to take her and her overnight things just in case they decided to keep her.

We are so so lucky to have such amazing grandparents for our little lady. We are also so lucky that everyone is here and well this Christmas and that is the only gift I need this year well that and maybe a potty trained munchkin. I doubt she will be completely trained so fast, but a mama can dream can't she?? I guess we need to jump back on the getting rid of the paci train now that we aren't out of town. I have already cut of the tips of each paci and they barely have any suction, but she still wants the darn thing to fall asleep. I keep telling myself one milestone at a time and I would rather have pooing on the potty over no paci any day.

No Words

Just tears.

I was just reading short descriptions about each one of the Sandy Hook Elementary victims and it absolutely breaks my heart. I can't imagine how those teachers and faculty felt as they tried to protect those babies as best they could. I pray they were given a special place in Heaven for taking care of those precious angels until their very last breaths. 

It wasn't until the day after that I hears about the other tragic news about the police officer killed until the day after and I couldn't believe so much sadness could occur in 1 day. 

Like everyone else I have hugged my Girl a little bit tighter and all the Stuff just got a little less important. 

Jump On Board

I am such a bad bad DIL (daughter in law)! My Awesome MIL(you figure this one out) has created a Fabulous teaching blog and I haven't posted anything about it! 

Welcome to Jump On Board Teachers

I knew my mother in law was an amazing teacher and I knew she loved lesson planning as much as I do, but it wasn't until I saw her first unit that I truly knew how Awesome she is.

I know you are thinking to yourself "What is so hard about lesson planning especially for little bitty people" Well let me tell you I know I personally work my butt of all week planning and getting everything ready for the next week while trying to teach and deal with emergencies like flying boogers and accidents and not I don't mean falling down accidents I mean pee accidents.

If you are a teacher and are looking for great comprehensive preschool-first grade units please pretty please go check out my MIL's Blog, Pinterest, and Facebook.

So Much To Say

I have 3 product reviewsd to get to, but life has kind of gotten in the way. This week I took an unintentional break from blogging and the internet. We went out of town this weekend which accounted for a lot of that time and preparing to go out of time took up the rest of that time.

 

I have 3 AWESOME products to rave about and these are products I searched out for myself and not products someone sent me stuff just because they wanted someone to just say how awesome it is. These are 3 companies and products I really love.

 

 

Before we get started why don't you skip on over to Anna & Eve, Squooshi, &

Sibu Beauty and check them out. I want to give each company/product equal love which will take some time and thankfully Christmas break starts this week which will give me plenty of nap times to write write write!

 

 I do plan on spending almost all other Christmas break time on potty training with big girl panties and all so please say a littl prayer for me that it continues to go as smooth and easy as it has been. Like I have said before I am flying by the seat of my pants through this whole parenting thing and I in no way expect my next child to be as easy as Mckinley has been. There is no way we could get so lucky twice. Please do not ask me for any potty training advice because I have no clue what I am doing. Basically we bought a potty for fun because the kitten started telling us when she pooped well she would say "I pooped"  and go stiff and 5 ut of the 20 times she actually had gone. the other times I think she needed to go which is now my cue to take her to the potty. So here are my steps to potty training: Purchased a potty that looks like a frog, sing silly songs,  dance like a freak and get way too excited about poop. Yes poop and I fully expect my next few posts will be about bowel movements.

 

Welcome to the world of a potty training toddler Mama! You are welcome!



This Weekend

Sadly I do not have any pictures from our weekend in Nashville because I forgot my camera which breaks my heart and pisses me off! I never leave the house without it and I knew better then to wait until Saturday morning to pack because I would forget something important. I feel like I missed so many precious moments between all of the Littles, but I will remember every hug and sugar I got at the end of the night. I love each and everyone of those munchkins so much and I am hoping everyone else with their nifty expensive cameras will post a few on Facebook so I can remember the fun we had. There were some baby announcements, yummy food, and lots of toddler wrangling, but it was a blast!! 

We are all exhausted from a night of 3 sweaty bodies in 1 full bed, but I wouldn't take back the image of the kitten nestled in the crook of her Daddy's arm this morning when I woke up a little exhausted and a lot sore. 

We made it back in 1 piece and to top off a fun whirlwind of a weekend my big girl shocked us all by doing some biznass in the potty!! I definitely need to swing by Target tomorrow and pick up some heavy duty training panties for some potty training fun over Christmas break!! 

It is weekends like this that make me so thankful for my family and friends. If this past year has taught me anything it is that we need to live right now and hold those that we love close to us while we can. We may not get to see everyone as often as we would like, but when we do it makes it even more special.

Update!!
She did it again! I am praying this all sticks and she continues to love her froggy potty because as a parent I have no clue what I am doing and I am completely making all of this up as we go. 

PreK Days {Mr. C and The Carnival/Circus}

{Weekly Wrap Up}

Once again I am late, but I am catching up quite nicely. Last week we met Mr. C and learned all about the Circus/Carnival. It was such a fun week and we topped it off with our very own Classroom Circus with Tight Rope Walking and a 3 Ring Bean Bag Toss.

We matched uppercase elephants with the lowercase letters on the peanuts

We made Cat C's

We colored circus animals, cut them out, and glued them on the correct ring with the matching number

Counted clowns and circled the correct number

We even made a Circus Mural which I keep forgetting to take pictures of, but if this little horse is any indication of how cute it turned out you my friends are in for a treat!!

I couldn't remember to turn my lesson in after 5 trys of carrying it around the school on different errands and now that I think about it I am honestly not sure if I ever actually turned it in. Thankfully the people I work for already know I am a little crazy so I think they expect it now.

PreK Days {Mrs. T & Transportation}

{Weekly Wrap up}

Once again I am behind and trying to catch up. This post should have been finished 3 weeks ago, but you know how life goes and some days life is just more important then blogging. So now we are meeting  Mrs. T and learning about transportation just a few weeks late.

We made Shape Buses and then had each student try to write the word BUS (My Brain) 

Made boats that really rock (My Brain). Each student painted a paper plate blue and after it dried we folded it in half. Next they cut out the brown bottom of the boat then cut out and colored the sail. I glued the bottom of the boat and sail onto the popsicle sticks and on to the folded paper plate (open side down) because we start running out of time before we had to head off to specials.

and Advent Wreaths because the first Sunday of Advent was December 2

We actually didn't get to do 2 of our activities because we had to practice all of our safety drills and one of our religion lessons ran way over, but some days you just cant do it all and if you can't roll with the punches you will get eaten alive by 4 year olds.

For jobs the week we:

Counted Train Cars (My Brain)

Placed the Correct Drops Of Water On The Boats

Loaded the Trucks With the Right Number Of Blocks

  

Spelled Our Names With Trains Cars (My Brain)

And Made Tractor T's

 

This One's For You

So I Guess We Have Started Potty Training

I have been telling Brent that we should get Mckinley a potty. She all of a sudden started saying "I pooped" and about 80% of the time she had actually pooped! We have used cloth diapers almost since the day we brought her home and I read everywhere that cloth diapered babies tend to potty train earlier because they can feel the wetness, but I honestly did not expect her to even enjoy sitting on the potty much less pee on it  times! 

We picked up the Fisher Price Froggy Potty today at Babies R US/Toys R Us. We went to get a Christmas gift for a friend and figured while we were there we would get our potty. The Froggy potty was so cute and the price was just right at $12.99. I just couldn't justify spending $30 on something my child would pee and poo on. We went back and forth about getting a potty chair or a seat that went on the potty with a stool and came to the conclusion that she might enjoy something she could do by herself since she is such an independent lady. 

We didn't get top try it out until we got home from Brent's parents house and the Little needed a bath so as I was skinning the rabbit I sat her on the potty. She thought it was hilarious!! After she sat for a minute she got up and tried to climb into the bath tub (she LOVES taking baths) and then all of a sudden she started trying to climb back on her froggy backwards so I picked her up and placed her on facing the right way and all of a sudden she peed a little and then after sitting a few more seconds she actually pottied!!! I started clapping and laughing hysterically!! She had been playing with her light up snowman toy and now it has become her potty toy. It entertains her long enough to get her to sit still. So we  clapped and laughed and got all excited about the potty and finally got in the tub. After we finished she kept trying to climb out of the tub and actually wanted to sit back on the potty and she went again!!! I kept her in a loose fitting diaper and every now and then I waould ask if she wanted to go potty and she would drop whatever she was doing and run to the bathroom. She ended up going a total of 5 times!!! 

We are going to of course be keeping her in diapers, but I am thinking about purchasing a few pairs of training pants to wear around the house over Christmas break. 

I still can't believe my baby girl is using the potty!!!! 

Mckinley will probably kill me some day for discussing her bathroom habits on the internet so i will be kind and I won't post any actual pictures of her using her brand new potty, but just know my sweet child if you cross me when youa re 16 and some cute boy comes to our house to pick you up you better believe I am not above pulling these pictures out!

Our Weekend

I celebrated my birthday and fell asleep at 8:00. I didn't count any points and I ate whatever I wanted.
 It was a great birthday!!

I ran an Ugly Sweater Race with the other Roxanne. We did some walking and some running. I forgot my id and some awesome girl in an old school onesie stamped her stamp on my hand and Angry Orchard is my new favorite.

We saw Santa Clause and didn't really care for him.

Last but not least we bought a potty and peed on it 5 times!

My Birthday

It's my Birfday!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm doing this

Getting Healthy

{Weekly Workouts}

Saturday December ~11.87 mile run  

Monday December 3~ 1.5 mile run with jogging stroller and 22 pound child Activity Points earned 4
Thursday December 6- Cleaned House Activity Points earned 1 (yup that counts)

{What I Ate 12-6-12}

Breakfast- Coffee with creamer and Splenda 0 Points

Cream Of Wheat with a dash of Milk and Splenda 2 Points

Snack-2 slices of cheddar cheese 2 points

2 Milton's Crackers 2 Points

Lunch- BBQ Sandwich  9 Points
BBQ Beans 2 Points
 5 Tater Tots 2 Points 
2 Orange Slices 0 Points

Snack- 1 Clementines .5 Point
Snack- Grapes 1 Point

Dinner- Taco Soup 2 Points
sour cream 1 Points 
 20 baked Tostitos 2 Points 

Water-40 oz. with sugar free fruit punch 0 points

Daily Total- 26 points

Activity Points Earned Today- 1

I actually had something else planned for my lunch, but that did not pan out and I ended up buying lunch at school all while staying  within my daily allotted points (pat on back).

Day 2 in the books and tomorrow I go to pick up my race packet for the Ugly Sweater Run Saturday!! SO stinkin excited that that will be my first race after not running for almost 2 years.

And to top it all off how about a hallway fit throw down! The Terrible 2's are going to be a blast!

Wordlessish Wednesday

Put on my slipper. Thought I was stepping on a scorpion!

Thankfully it was just a bubble wand!

Live To Eat or Eat To Live

It took me about a year, but I finally got back to my pre Mckinley weight and on a good day I am even below that weight. I have gotten here by trying to eat healthy, but If I am honest with myself  haven't done very good. I have basically eaten everything sweet I could get my hands on, but I think the stress of everything going on with mom has magically eaten away those calories. This amazes me because losing weight isn't very easy for me and I have to work out to actually lose weight and lord knows I have not been doing that until just recently.

Now that I am running again I want to start watching what I eat by following Weight Watchers again. I think if I do both together I can really get my body back in shape. I was going to start yesterday until I ate a piece of strawberry cake and a glazed jelly filled donut  I am now saying that was my last hoorah before my diet truly began and I am starting all over again today.

I talked to a friend yesterday who had started the Paleo diet and I decided that just was not for me. Seeing as how I just ate a few pieces of cheese I wouldn't last very long on a no carb, no dairy, no sugar diet. I figure if I lost 15 pounds on WW then I can do it again! I will be following WW on my own and I will be using the old point system since I refuse to pay $ for the new books. I get 30 points a day to eat plus 35 weekly extra flex points which is a ton of food. I will also earn extra points when I exercise. If you haven't ever done weight watchers you may not understand what all that means. Basically every food has a number assigned to it and you add your points up through out the day and you try to stay under or at your daily allotted points.

I think I am going to set my goal at 5 pounds for right now. I am not really looking to lose weight as much as I am looking to strengthen my body and tighten certain areas up and if I lose a few pounds in the process then so be it. I have not done very well writing down all of my points so I figured I could blog about it. I will log my weekly workout and what I ate and maybe the shame of putting it on the internet will help me have some will power and not eat a cupcake every time we have a birthday. I think I will make Saturdays my normal day or cheat day and since it is usually the day Brent and I have our date nights I can use some of my extra points to splurge.Now that we decided to each plan a date night once a month I can just plan around that. I will try to stick to my diet over Christmas with an exception of a few treats since life would  be oh so boring without a treat once in a while.

 I do plan on running today if it warms up a bit if not I will go ahead and run to Babies R Us for a stroller cover and Little Lady and I can get out tomorrow.

{Weekly Workouts}

Saturday December ~11.87 mile run  

Monday December 3~ 1.5 mile run with jogging stroller and 22 pound child

{What I Ate 12-5-12}

Breakfast- Plain oatmeal with a smidge of butter, a dash of milk, and a dash of splenda 3 points

Coffee with creamer and splenda

Snack-6 slices of cheddar cheese 3 points

Lunch-Spinach and Cheese Stuffed 7 points

Snack- Popcorn 4 point
Grapes 1 Point

Dinner- Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry 5 points

Water-40 oz. with sugar free fruit punch 0 points

 Dessert- Chocolate PB2 Strawberry Banana Smoothie 4 Points

Daily Total- 27 points

Activity Points Earned Today- 0

All in all I think Day 1 of Weight Watchers was a success. I am full, happy and healthy!

Mckinley says Good Job Mama!

I Confess

Alright you got me! I confess! I have absolutely NO will power when it comes to food. I LOVE food. I love salty food, sweet food, savory food, Chinese food, Mexican food, Italian food. I LOVE FOOD! I can not turn down a sweet and I live to eat. I love healthy food and junk food even though I try to stay away from the junk food except at school because there are always cupcakes! 
I am currently looking into potties for my almost 1 and 1/2 year old and for some reason the thought of dumping pee and poo out of it grosses me out and this is strange because we use cloth diapers and I dump crap several times a day and it doesn't even phase me. For some reason the thought if dumping a potty crap cup just makes me want to hurl.
I must eat certain things in even number (candy) and volumes must almost always be on even numbers. Especially the radio. Odd numbers are just not ok. This is why I married a licensed counselor.

I live for blow drying my hair. It's relaxing. I can read a few pages in my Sookie book. I can't hear anything going on in the house and if i can't hear it it is Daddy's problem.

I don't understand and dislike anything with a mustache on it. I don't get it and it makes me angry. Along those lines I don't understand all of the nail art. I would pick it off in 5 seconds anyways.

I think I have a broken tooth, but don't want to go to the dentist (someone make me go before I need another crown)

Tonight I will leave the den a mess because my child decided to literally throw every toy out of her 2 boxes. I feel like this will protect us form anyone who tries to break in. They will definitely break at least 1 ankle before they make it to us. Tomorrow I am going to go through all of her toys and give a bunch away.  

Nothing too juicy and pretty lame for a Monday night.

Push It Real Good

1 & 1/2 miles with a stroller really counts as 3 right??

I now wish I hadn't eaten those 2 mini butterfingers! 

I think I might restart my weight watcher tomorrow. Anyone wanna do it with me?? 

I have a new running buddy now all I need is a don't eat that buddy.

I have missed you my friends

Pre K Days {Thanksgiving}

{Weekly Wrap up}

I am so behind on life right now! I haven't been getting all of my stuff done ahead of time and I don't like it!! Life is so much easier and you have so much more time if you are prepared and I intend to get back on top of the game.

I just relized I never posted our activities and crafts from Thanksgiving week. We were crazy busy trying to get everything ready for the following week in 2 days that I am not even sure if I snapped pictures of everything.

We didn't have jovbs this week since we only had 2 days we all completed the same activities at the same time which was a bit chaotic, but we got it done.

First I am going to start with the Precious cookies my Awesome Room Mom made. They were adorable and delicious!

We made a Turkey Glyph

A Turkey Hat

Pilgrims

And did some Turkey Math

Happy Thanksgiving!

90%

It's almost done, but at least it is in the house and not a leaf catcher anymore. She (yes she is a lady) still needs her undercarriage painted and she needs some pulls quickly if possible because Brent is about to go mad trying to get his stuff out, but she is in and she is beautiful.

I introduce to you Mrs. Timber Wolf Grey $50 best random find I have ever made after a disappointing drive out to a scary house

Ready To Run!

Looking through all of my drafted posts the majority of them are all about getting in shape and running. I am seeing a pattern here and I don't like it. I am committing myself to a race at the end of January and I will be finishing that 1.86 miles!

Mckinley and I took advantage of a beautiful fall day last week and gave our running stroller a mile on her log. We went around our little neighborhood and ended up at the park down the street from our house. We are very lucky because our neighborhood is sandwiched between 2 parks with 2 great walking paths and we will definitely be taking advantage of them.

I finally got up and out today while Mckinley napped and Brent cleaned out the old dresser so we could put in our newly redone by yours truly (pictures coming soon) and he told me to get out and go while I could (I love my man) and get out I did! I set out from my house and ran to the park across the street, ran the trail, and then came back home. I am pretty darn proud of myself because I haven't run since before I got pregnant and it wasn't too bad! I told myself I would run a full mile without stopping and was pleasantly surprised when I got home to log my run on Map My Run and realized I had almost run 2 miles!! Now that may not seem like a lot, but if you have ever started all over again after taking a long time off of running you know how it feels.

I am happy and I am ready! My legs are aching in a good way today and it feels SO good!
St. Jude 1/2 2013 here I come.