Life Changing

I haven't done any menu or clean eating posts in a while and I figured the day after eating a giant blueberry muffin and an entire plate of veal parm would be a great time to talk about why I love eating clean and the changes my body have gone through in a short amount of time. I have now been eating clean for about a month and a half and I feel better than I ever have in my life. Yesterday made me appreciate my new lifestyle and reaffirmed why I initially wanted to change. My day started off with my typical morning breakfast of eggs, turkey bacon, and coffee with coconut milk creamer and agave. I knew it would be difficult to be completely clean this day because we would soon be heading to a play date including coffee and muffins. Mckinley ate most of the muffin and I enjoyed a few bites along with my coffee and vanilla creamer. I fee like If I make good choices 99% of my life then a few bites and sips won't ruin all of my hard work plus like I always say what's life without cake and I will NEVER live without cake! Later that night was when I actually regretted something that I ate. 

My sister graduated from her ultrasound program last night after 15 long months of hard work and usually all big events like this include a special dinner out afterwards. My sister chose one of our family favorites a little Italian restaurant with the best veal parm you have ever eaten. Their gravy is as close to our family gravy as you are going to get plus their ravioli are amazing! I had spent 2 hours chasing my precious child around the graduation ceremonies and by the time we got to the restaurant I was STARVING and this was after eating a peanut butter sandwich (made for my child to eat knowing she probably wouldn't eat it because she would rather have real food than a sandwich and eaten because I was starving) which led to me over eating and eating foods I typically wouldn't have eaten. The dinner comes with 2 pieces of veal parm covered in spaghetti gravy and cheese with 6-8 ravioli. Now I could lie and say I had a few bites of everything, but the honest truth is I ate every single bite on my plate plus close to 1 1/2 pieces of extremely overly saturated buttery garlic bread. Needless to say I was very very very sick last night and woke up feeling quite yucky and completely rededicated to eating clean.

I decided to take a progress picture today because despite feeling yucky about what I had previously consumed I was feeling pretty good about myself today. I have definitely noticed a downward move on the ole scale, but I am having a hard time seeing changes in my body. I know my face is much thinner and my arms are firming up from my usage of heavy weights and push ups, but the mama belly is still an eye sore that  is the hardest to notice any change. I was pleasantly surprised when I did a side by side of my 2 progress pictures how different parts of my body have already changed in such a short time. I don't believe this picture is the best example of the difference because my before picture seems a tad closer making it look exaggeratedly bigger than my second picture so I don't think my results are as drastic as they seem, but regardless there is definitely a change. 

I am going to really kick up my ab routine these next few months because I have a feeling bridesmaids dess trials will be in my somewhat near future and I really don't feel like purchasing or having to squeeze my behind into any spanx, but I am not ruling it out. I am also hoping to ramp up my running schedule these next few months and I am hoping to be up to at least 6 miles by May when sign ups for the St. Jude Marathon and Half Marathon opens up. I am pretty confidant I will be there by then which will give me a pretty good head start to 13.1 by December

So here it is in all of its ungloriousness. The second picture seems much closer to camera making it look like my changes are even more drastic than they truly are, but I think you can still see the areas that have changed the most. 

I am now going to set msyelf some goals from now until March 1 2014. I don't really care about losing any weight, but I am really concentrating on toning my entire body. I not only have a wedding with a lot of pictures coming up in a year, but this summer in only a few short months I am planning on taking Mckinley to swimming lessons. This means I have to get my butt into a bathing suit and I don't want this butt hanging out or scaring any children. That means the lunges, squats, and wall sits are getting kicked into high gear along with my abs and my mileage. I have done it before and I will do it all again with a toddler sitting on my stomach as I crunch and a stroller packed with sippy cups and veggie chips. 

Wish me luck and if you see me sitting around you are allowed to yell at me and throw things.

Weekly Menu

I have moved away from my monthly meal plans and moved into a biweekly planning period. I felt like I was wasting food more than I would like and other people in our home weren't always eating what I was pulling out of the freezer. I am still spending less money on groceries and I love knowing what I need to pre plan ahead of time at the beginning of the week to be ready and not run around like a chicken with my head cut off come Wednesday evening. Now that we are eating more clean and cutting out processed foods I am not really struggling for dinner ideas because this is pretty much how we ate anyways. I am still working on breakfast and lunches, but thankfully I am a creature of habit and eat the same things everyday anyways, but I would like to branch out from my eggs and bacon morning routine once in a while. I think I see more grapefruits, Chex rice cereal with almond milk (My 1 weakness!) , and Honey Cloud Pancakes (with a few ingredient exchanges) in my near future!

For this week we are looking at 

Monday- Turkey burgers with roasted veggies and homemade sweet potato fries

Tuesday-Shrimp Stir fry with quonia for me

Wednesday-Roast with sweet potates

Thursday- Grilled Chicken with veggies (I want to tryn something new)

Friday-Cheese Pizza (Lent)

Nothing fancy, but all super healthy and clean except for the pizza, but what is life without pizza. I make my own a lot of times, but Friday starts my Spring Break so there will be only celebrating and eating that night and no slaving in the kitchen!

Next week I think I am going to try my hand at some home made whole what pasta! And Maybe some home made bread. I just love knowing exactly what is going into my families food and I am really enjoying cooking. I actually haven't screwed up a meal in quite some time and I now have my husband obsessed with roasted broccoli and he has requested it for every meal this week even if it doesn't go with what we are eating. We (I)  also have quite the obsession with home made sweet potato home fries. 

Basically all I do is slice my washed potatoes on my mandolin (my favorite kitchen gadget). Roll my potatoes in some olive oil then I place them on a well oiled cookie sheet covered in foil (I pour the foil on the foil) add some Tony's Chacheres (I just can't make my own so Tony's it is). Then I bake them on 350-375 until almost brown. I am not going to lie I like mine almost burnt, but I like all of my food super done (dry chicken and fish for this girl please). 

I am thinking about getting this shirt because I need some more motivation to hit the gym now that I am coming off of my 2 week sick hiatus. I am so glad to be feeling better and I am about to go pack my gym bag so I can hit the gym right after school tomorrow and get it done! If I am going to be in tip top shape for this wedding next year and to run the St, Jude again I better get my butt in gear!

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Road Injuries

I never thought I would miss bloody ankles, 

Yes, when I run I somehow kick my ankles. I don't know how and I don't know why, but I also dig grooves in the side of my shoes. It is a true talent. 

I got in 3 miles today and I even went the hard route (up hill at the end) and I didn't die! I had to walk once or twice going up that last hill, but I finished in 45 minutes! Now that I have accomplished my first goal of 3 miles I shall next conquer my old 5 mile route I used to do with my old running buddy. I still can't believe we got up and ran 5 miles twice a week before school! We were in some awesome shape and I plan to get it back! After I hit 5 miles I want to get back into some trail running with my 6 mile trail at the Farms and then who knows  maybe 13.1 in December. I've done it once I can do it again dang it!

I am loving working out right after school be it at the gym or on the streets (that sounded better in my head) because I don't have to worry about waking up any earlier than I already do at 5:00 a.m. and I know I won't do it after I pickup the monkey. She makes working out so much fun and the best part is she lovingly hits her witching hour between 4-6 every night. If you aren't a parent you might be wondering what the witching hour is. Well my non baby friends this is a phenomenon known to many parents when their sweet precious child becomes a monster and nothing makes them happy no matter you give them and  no matter what you do. This this just happens to be right about the time we get home and I am cooking dinner every day before Brent gets home and then add in working out on top of that and she is a mess. And this my friends is why I will not have another child for quite some time. It is all I can do to handle this wild child of mine and until she is a bit older and a little less wild don't ask me when we will have another small wonder.

I might even try for 4 miles tomorrow. We'll see how everyone sleeps in our house tonight. If I can do 3 on 1 hour hopefully I can go a little farther with hopefully a little more sleep. You would think when you run around like this all day long you would sleep ALL NIGHT LONG!

Mind Dump

I am typing as I enjoy my second glass of Big House Unchained Naked Chardonnay boxed wine. It has 4 bottles of wine in it's funny looking box!! 4 bottles people! As a college Franzia connoisseur I know a little about boxed wines and this my friends is a keeper at $19.99. I spent a long hard half day of work hanging out with my precious babies and a few parents after some Parent Teacher Conferences. I might have also done some clothes returning and purchasing things I didn't really need, but this dietary change is really working and I just wanted a few new pieces to revamp my wardrobe.  I am such a sucker for anything with polka dots and anything in a mint seafoamy green blue. The house is almost too quiet now that my mom and dad both stopped in to visit and  my dear sweet sweet in laws have picked up the Kitten for a slumber party. I think I will just sit here in the quiet for a minute and enjoy the quiet.

It was so nice driving around today and just having a little quiet me time. I am so lucky to have this amazing job and they will never be able to get rid of me! I can truly say I LOVE what I do and the people I work with and not many people will ever get a chance to say that. I am so blessed to be living this life.
 While driving around I passed one of our many private schools in town and yes I know I work at a private school, but this one is a little different or I guess I could say ours is different because it is a little smaller and closer to my everyday reality. I can honestly say I know nothing about this other school other then the visual affect the people and their babies have on me and just on the surface they are even more upper class then my homies. First off it costs your first born child to attend in and then you have to sell an organ on the black market every year just to pay for it. I was actually offered a job at this school way back in the day, but I couldn't accept the position because of the low amount of pay. It was only for an assistant position that could have turned into a teaching position, but I just couldn't swing it at that time. I know it was for a reason because I am absolutely 100% where I am supposed to be in my life, but it is always interesting to look into this world and think about how life would be different if I had jumped at my first opportunity. Would I have fit in? Would I say I loved waking up and going to work every day? As I sat and watched the moms coming and going picking up their own precious angels in their cute little work out outfits and realized how different their lives must be. It blows my mind to think that people can actually make that much money that they can actually send their precious babies to this school. I mean we aren't destitute, but we are definitely on the lower end of the middle class around these parts and I guess when you have it you just don't realize how different your life is or maybe it isn't any different. I guess the moral of my story is I love watching people and  wondering what their lives are like behind all of the stuff and give me a few glasses of wine and I can take things deep people. 

Now I am just sitting her waiting for my lovah to return home after a long day of work to enjoy a date night in with a pizza and a movie. We may not have celebrated Valentine's Day, but this was my month to plan date night and I think I have done a pretty good job. I wanted  to do a movie date night in so I picked up a natural cheese pizza (Lent and kind of diet friendly) and I rented Pitch Perfect from the Red Box.
Side note since this post has taken me 3 days to write Brent was kind of skeptical of my choice, but gave me mad props after the movie was over because it was Aca-larious! I knew he would like it also because it had one of the guys from workaholics in it.

SPeaking of not celebrating Valentine's Day, I thought I could escape all of the candy and junk. That was until my sweet babies so kindly gifted me with all kinds of delicious treats. I am thinking now about doing a cleanse starting this weekend after The Valentine's Day Chocolate Bender of 2013!!! After eating clean for a few weeks and then going off the deep end with 1 bunch of chocolate covered strawberries (at least they had fruit), 4 small boxes of heart shaped chocolates, and a laffy taffy or two, I am now fully committed to a life of healthy eating (with occasional trysts into the world of  carbs and sugar). I have finally discovered the loveliness of Agave Nectar and I will never go back. I enjoy eating clean, exercising, being healthy, and feeling good and hopefully I can bring the hubby over to the dark side of my world.

Now that Brent has confirmation from his Dr. that he needs to drastically change his lifestyle I am going to do whatever it takes to help him get healthy. We have already started with a few small changes for him like no fast food, a salad with dinner to help cut portion sizes, more healthy fish, lean protein, and veggies, and more water. I am also going to start a new routine for both of us. On the nights he gets home early I am going to already have a work out dvd all set up and ready to go and I am going to have all of his work out clothes ready to go and on nice nights the stroller and baby will be ready to roll. I might also try waking him early (I am kind of scared to poke the bear, but we will try it and see how it goes) to go ahead and get his workout over with and then he can't say he is to tired or just wants to destress before exercising and then not doing it. I know he isn't going to do it on his own so maybe if I push him a little he will start enjoying it. I also think this will play a major roll in combating his level of stress. What's better than getting fit and healthy with the person you plan on spending the rest of your life with. I know I will out live him, but I can hopefully keep him around for a little while longer because I kind of like him just a little.

We don't have school Monday and I think I already have my entire day all planned out. I am thinking a trip to the gym, a cloth diapering lesson, a trip to the park with a picnic depending on the weather. I know you are jealous I get to spend a whole extra day with my Little Lady. She is pretty fabulous!

Pretty Good

Besides being a little under the weather I am feeling pretty good these days. I am thinking my clean eating habits and hitting the gym more are the cause of this. I am still not sure why it has taken me so long to get back to being myself, but I will never blame it on being too busy or being a mommy again. 

As for my dietary changes I decided to stop saying I was on the Paleo diet because so many people look at me funny. Instead I have chosen to say I am choosing to be healthier. My main food intake these days is fruits and veggies (fresh, cooked, and in smoothies), lean meats, nuts, and beans. Basically anything you can find around the edges of the grocery store I am eating it. I have had a few "treats" after eating clean for 2 weeks and I can honestly say I did not enjoy anything I ate. I have had some pizza (wasn't too bad) a doughnut, some California sushi rolls,  a few veggie straws, and a 2 slices of bread with my spicy black bean burger and I can honestly say I felt yucky after eating every single one of these items. Needless to say this Super Bowl Sunday should be interesting. I am not sure if it will be worth it to eat some of the things I was looking forward to eating and I am thinking I am going to change what I was going to bring as my offering (Buffalo Chicken Dip) and instead bring some 7 Layer Dip.

I have started working on my February Monthly Meal Calendar and I am excited about some new simple recipes I found on Pinterest shock and surprise. I will be shopping bi-weekly this time around instead of monthly because I was finding I had too many leftovers which isn't a bad thing, but it was starting to overflow and I absolutely HATE wasting food so this will work out better for our little fam.
I am excited to try some new recipes and I am even more excited to have my meals planned out again. After taking a month off of planning I missed knowing what we would be eating instead of scrambling around for something healthy to eat or not having all of the ingredients I needed.

This next 2 things i am about to pots have absolutely nothing to do with meal planning or clean eating, but they were so funny and actually made me laugh out loud and I just had to share.

Happy Saturday and I am looking forward to going to church tomorrow morning. We will be taking Mckinley to the nursery for the first time. We haven't been going because it was just too much of a hassle to get up and go with her, but I feel like I am missing something in my life and I think this is just the ticket.

Me

Tomorrow I will take a little time for me. Not mama time, but Roxanne time. I intend on getting my moneys worth out of this renewed gym membership. For $39 a month I plan on hitting my old friend up at least 3-4 days a week. Whether I am joining a class or running/walking on the treadmill I will be adding this back into my routine. 

Oh how I miss that extra burst of  energy you get as you are walking out all red faced and sweaty. This has been a long time coming and it is sad it has taken me so long. Now that I have stated this on the internet I have to actually do it!

Step I at 9:30 I intend for you to kick my butt but I will be there!

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!

Monday Funday

3 Things

One. I worked out today! My gym buddy Heather and I met up at the gym today to walk on the treadmills and decided it was so beautiful outside we should walk the "trail" around the gym.Sadly we could not find the trail and the security child driving the golf cart was no help sow e sucked it up and went back inside. It just happened to be 5:00 at this time and we were just in time for Step I class so we stepped it out. This wound up being very fun and entertaining. there may have been some laughing at Heather going the wrong way and missing steps and maybe a few laughs at the knee lifts.

Two.I ate 10 lactation cookies today.

Three. My baby is 7 months old today, but I am too tired to write an entire month wrap up so it will get done tomorrow, but until then here is a cute picture of the kitten.

Project Beach Body

Officially starts TODAY because we are going to the beach baby! What's better then getting to stay home with my girl all summer? Getting to be with her, my hubby, and my family at the beach for an entire week! 

Now on to the important stuff like getting the ole beach body ready. This morning when I weighed myself I was 3 pounds away from my post baby weight and I couldn't be happier, but I want to lose those 3 plus some. I have been drinking my own lovely concoction every morning that I believe has really helped in my post baby weight loss journey.

Roxanne's Morning Smoothie

1 handful of fresh spinach leaves

1 handful baby carrots or 1 large carrot

1 banana

a few scoops of your favorite low fat yogurt (I use vanilla or strawberry)

1 handful of frozen berry medley

1 Tbsp honey

1 c milk

1 c ice

add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth. Pour. Enjoy. You can put anything you want in it, but this is what I had on hand. I actually went ahead and mixed the fruits and veggies, yogurt, and honey together, poured it in a greased muffin pan, and froze it. Then I popped them out and put them in a Tupperware container to use during the wee. I just popped 2 frozen rounds in the blender, added the milk and ice and blended to my preferred consistency. I am thinking of adding some brewers/nutritional yeast for milk production.

So this is what I have been drinking every morning for a week now and I feel like I can already tell a difference in my energy and I make a really big cup so I am pretty full until lunchtime. Now if people would stop bringing donuts to school I could be 5 lbs. below pre baby weight. I have also returned to the gym once a week with my gym buddy. I plan on going 2-3 times a week soon so that should kick up the weight loss. Sadly as I typed that I laughed because there is no way I will be hitting the gym that many times. I would be happy with at least 2 gym dates and maybe 1 day of 30 day shred at home.

If only I could be as comfortable with my body as Mckinley. She  really embraces all of her curves.

 We  of course have to start planning what we will be taking with us because traveling with 3 is a totally different animal. I might over pack for myself so I am going to have to work on that too.

We have never had a little at the beach before so we may need a few extras especially since Mckinley will probably be mobile by then and when I say mobile I mean running around, touching everything, getting into EVERYTHING so we need to be prepared. I will be packing an assortment of accoutrements to keep her entertained.

We will definitely need a beach blanket for baby girl to play on. We have this one from Bed Bath and Beyond. This thing has really come in handy since I bought it a few years ago. I use it for Race Day at school, we take it to Italian Fest, and other fun outings. Funny thing is I kind of had babies in mind when I bought it because I knew it would be great for playing outside or napping at the park. Ours isn't that cute, but it is a little more universal with it's brown back and green front just in case our second bambino doesn't care for pink zebra.

To go along with the beach blanket we are going to get a blow up pool with a canopy to keep down by the beach to keep the girl cool without having to go in Mama doesn't do the ocean water and I am sure daddy will get tired of going back and forth from the beach to the water and back again so we thought this might be a fun thing to take. I will of course be lounging in my cute mommy bathing suit next to the pool. Not sure if I can pull off the bikini like this mama.

The most important beach necessity could be a cute bathing suit which we have 2 or 3 that people have given us to go along with the 2 or 3 beach hats people have also given us, but I think the most important thing is a super cute  cloth swim diaper. Like this one from Nicki's Diapers, our favorite spot besides www.diaperswapers.com to buy diapers. Since we are staying in a condo we will have access to a washer and dryer so we will be taking our cloth with us and this cloth swim diaper will fit perfectly in our stash. Bad news is the diaper also come with matching rash guard and hat so we might need those too.

Last, but not least are 2 extras we have procured from loved ones. A covered pool float and some beach toys to keep my girl safe and preoccupied because no one likes a sunburned/bored baby.
Speaking of sunburned we will of course be taking a years supply worth of sunscreen to protect all of the pasty whiteness that will be hitting the beach. Sadly no sun has touched this ole body a LONG time and I will be slathering it on all 3 of us because there is nothing like getting a sunburn the first day on the beach.

I still can't believe how lucky we were to get this particular condo for this particular week.
Just talking about all of this is blowing my mind because that means we only have 3 more months of school left. That is 12 weeks people! Roughly 60 days! What the what! I only missed 4 weeks of school so this year shouldn't have gone by so fast! Guess I better start planning the rest of the year out and get started on next years planning.

Why am I already talking about next year!? I need time to stop so my baby stops growing!

Highs and Lows

Highs

First post baby gym date! I FINALLY hit the gym with my good friend slash workout buddy Heather. I couldn't decide if I was going to keep my membership or not (especially since I hadn't actually set foot in there since I was possibly 3 months pregnant). Basically I was paying 30ish dollars a month for nothing. We have been talking about going for months and it finally happened today. We were possibly 20 a few minutes late and after waiting maybe another 15 minutes to get Mckinley's id card and signing her in to the baby room I hit the treadmill. The best part was the awesome new fitness equipment. The treadmills have their own tv's. You can even listen to music and play games like mahjong! It was so nice to have some grownup time and just talk.

Someone gave me a compliment today that I am looking very good (skinny) and I fit into a pair of pants that didn't fit 2 weeks ago. I know I have been relying on nursing/pumping to lose weight because it has been sucking it out of me, but I am going to have to be much better when I finally stop so I need to get better about what I am eating now. I would probbaly lose faster if I stopped eating hershey kisses everyday.

No school tomorrow because I am going to a conference on autism. Now that I have so many friends mainstreaming into my classroom I would like to learn more about autism. I want to know how I can best prepare and provide for all of my friends in my classroom. I hate missing school, but this will be interesting.

My babies were great today.

Mckinley is officially a roller. It took her a little longer because she is my child and she is stubborn and doesn't care to be on her belly, but she just couldn't quite roll herself over to her back. Well last night she rolled from her belly both ways to the left and to the right. She is getting more and more active and mobile everyday. Every now and then she will get her booty up in the air and move her knees and schooch herself, but she ends up schooching back a little. I hate how fast she is growing and changing, but I am also so darn proud of my big girl.

My boobs are working again and I am not having to supplement with formula.

Lows

Baby girl still has a cold and I am sleeping on the couch with her because I do not feel ok with her being so far away from me. She needs to be propped up pretty high to help keep her from coughing and I don't like putting her in her Boppy in her crib plus she still coughs. I feel much safer with her propped up with me on the other end of the couch.

My house is suffering right now. I have not had the energy nor the time lately to keep it as clean as I have wanted. I am keeping up with the dishes and laundry. My clothes might still be sitting in the basket in the laundry room where they have been for 4 days now, ubt they will eventually be put away when we need the basket again.

Brent didn't get home until after 8 and Baby Girl was already asleep. That is the first time that has happened and it makes me sad for him.





Gratuitous Kinley Shot
We have started working on using a sippy cup with water in it and the princess could of course careless for it. She hates holding her bottles and refuses to do it, but she does pretty good holding the sippy.She doesn't care for water too much, but we will get there.

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Setting Goals

St. Jude 1/2 Marathon



Winter Cross Country Series. It was a tad muddy

Instead of beating myself up about losing the baby weight I am going to set some goals for myself. Each week I want to have 1 diet and 1 exercise goal. I am going to start off slow since I wasn't really on top of my exercising game whilst pregnant. I want to go back to eating like I did pre pregnancy even though I know I need to keep my calorie intake with breastfeeding. When you are pregnant you feel like it is ok to indulge more often, but those days are over and I want to feel good again. During the week I will eat super duper healthy and I always try to save my treats for the weekend so I have something to look forward and work towards. I will also be weighting myself every Monday starting this Monday (naked, first thing in the am, right after I pee of course doesn't everyone do it that way)

Week 1

Diet Goal: cut out all junk foods (chips, ice cream, etc.)

Exercise Goal: Start 30 Day Shred, Walk/Jog 2-3 Days/week, Exercise class @ gym on weekend

This is my last week at home so I need to take advantage of having all day to exercise before returning to work. I am excited to get back to feeling really good and maybe fitting into some of my old clothes (that won't happen until these boobs are gone!)