Checking In

I have about a million blog posts I need to do. They have been piling up since school started. I'll get around to them one of these days. But I needed to weigh in since I'm almost 2 weeks behind. Oops.

I've lost another pound, putting the total to 17! The weight has been coming off SO SLOWLY, but I'm happy it's coming off instead of going on. :D And 17 pounds is quite a bit when you think about how heavy a 10 pound sack of sugar is!!!! Haha!!!!

In all fairness to the South Beach Diet, it has worked REALLY well for me---when I stick to it. But honestly I cheat regularly, therefore slowing down my weightloss. But what I am eating seems more realistic for me at the moment, and I don't feel like I'm restricting myself too much. I think that's why I've been able to keep moving forward. I'm just eating healthier...and less.

Freedom

Last week Baby C decided to go on a nursing strike. Since she is 2 weeks shy of turning a year old, I decided to take advantage of her disinterest--and wean her. It was a pretty big jump for both of us. At the time she was still nursing 3 times per day, and was not interested in drinking whole milk, so the whole thing was a little stressful (and painful). I'm always a little emotional when I wean my babies. I'm not a mother who adores breastfeeding, but I do think it creates a sweet bond between mother and baby. For me, weaning is a sign that I'm losing my baby; she's growing up! I can't believe she will turn 1 year old next week. Here is a recent photo of her so you can see all of her cuteness!

One of the biggest blessings of weaning is the freedom I have to leave for extended amounts of time. Next month I am going to the city (SF) with my sister to see West Side Story---I can't wait! And I'm trying to schedule a weekend for me to enjoy some spa time (a gift my husband gave me for our anniversary). It's so nice to have the freedom to leave. :D

As a side note, I lost 1.5 pounds this week. Yay! I have decided to change my weigh-in day to Friday, so I can enjoy my weekends a little more. :D So from now on, I'll be reporting on Friday. Thanks for your continued support!!!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's here.

It starts with Halloween, quickly followed by Thanksgiving, and then to top it all off, Christmas. I LOVE this time of the year--so many fun traditions. I have about a million things I want to do with my kids. :D And of course they almost all involve yummy food. This afternoon I've been dreaming of caramel apples, pumpkin shaped sugar cookies, pumpkin pie, peanut blossoms...you get the idea.

I am really proud of myself for jumping back into things this past week (maybe not in thought--haha--but at least in action). I lost 2.5 pounds. But with the holidays on the horizon, I'm a little nervous. AND to add to it, the week after Christmas I am going on a 7 day Caribbean Cruise, so I just know food is going to haunt me for the next 3.5 months.

Growing up our family celebrations revolved around food. I think that's pretty standard for most people. I LOVED it, but it's not exactly the healthiest thing to do. I would love to change this in my own family. I know treats are a fun part of the holidays, but what if there was something even MORE exciting than the food? To be totally honest, it is REALLY hard for me to ignore this part of my upbringing. I need ideas. Something fun to look forward to---besides food.

So what non-food holiday traditions do you have?

First Steps

My favorite part is in the beginning when Baby C tackles Miss R. LOL!

Sorry if the movie is LOUD. We were obviously VERY excited for Baby C. I wish we had better volume control at our house. :-)

You get what you deserve

OK, a good rule of thumb for anyone who is losing weight is to NEVER overeat the night before you weigh-in. :D Yesterday was one of those days for me. I was tired. I was stressed out. My husband was working and I wasn't feeling very well. I had all the kids by myself and for some reason I just snapped. We're all human. So, I ordered pizza. It was delicious; the scale proved it this morning. I gained 2 pounds. I completely deserve this weight gain. Not only did I eat way too much pizza, but I over-indulged a lot last week--cheesecake on Monday, ice cream on Thursday, etc. So I TOTALLY deserve this 2 pound gain. Ugh.

In my dieting past, I have always struggled with the 2nd and 3rd months with will-power. The first month seems to go smoothly. My will-power is strong as I start to see the weight come off. But then I start getting tired of eating healthy foods, or saying no to my favorite yummy things, and I cave. Then I end up gaining a few pounds back, get discouraged, and give up entirely. BUT I'm not going to do that this time. I refuse to give up. I'm ready to move forward. I AM GOING TO DO THIS!!!! Can you hear the cheerleaders in the background, as I give myself this little pep talk? Haha!

Wish me luck--cause I need it!!! :D

No words

I'm having a really hard time posting something today.

Have you ever had an experience that changes the way you view life? That helps clarify what is truly important--and makes everything else in life seem trivial? I had one of those experiences 2 weeks ago when the bishop of my home ward was murdered in the church foyer. I'm having a hard time describing how I have felt, or what I have witnessed. Shock. Heartbreak. Fear. Hope. Love. Courage. The past two weeks I have seen the power of God manifested boldly in the lives of those I love, and it has been truly amazing. Hearing Julie (his wife) bear testimony of the Plan of Salvation and trusting in God's plan for each of us strengthened my own testimony. Truly, I have never witnessed greater faith, than in watching the Sannar family deal with this tragedy.

And so I'm sort of feeling like everything I talk about on this blog is really trivial...

But since I promised to report (I missed reporting last week because I was out of town)---I lost another 2.5 pounds.

A Pinkalicious Party

Miss A turned five years old last week. I can't believe it! The tradition in our family is that the kids have their first REAL birthday party (with friends, decorations, etc) when they turn five, so Miss A has been looking forward to this for months! She decided to have a Pinkalicious Party, which was a total blast. If you haven't read the book Pinkalicious, DO! It's so cute.

Miss A waiting for her guests

We played balloon games while we waited for everyone to arrive.

We started the party by reading the book.

Then Auntie K & I helped the girls get decked out with pink nail polish, eye shadow, & lipstick.

The girls did Pinkalicious activity pages--mazes, coloring pages, & a word search.

And made Pinkalicious wands.

And of course, ate Pinkalicious cupcakes....

We also had a giant cupcake with candles on it. It was absolutely hideous; it completely fell apart. Hence I did not post any pictures of it. Miss A loved it though. What a sweetheart---so forgiving of my cake decorating inadequacies.

opened presents....

and pulled a pinata.

Here is the entire gang with their loot.

Happy 5th Birthday Miss A! I love you!!!