THANKSgiving

This day is one of my favorites!  Growing up we would watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in the morning and have an awesome breakfast (which means pancakes, eggs, and the like because it wasn't a school day) cooked by my dad (the breakfast chef).  My mom would generally bake away the day before Thanksgiving or sometimes Thanksgiving morning and then we would get ready to get together with my mother's family in the afternoon.  There would be football watching, cousins playing in the yard, really yummy food, and PLENTY of love!  I always liked getting together with my mom's family.  Even though they are not members of the church, they are some of the best people you will ever meet.  Since being married, I haven't seen them much over the years and I honestly really miss it.  They will be getting together today and I'll be an extra state away, missing on them dearly!!  I am truly thankful for them (and so many other things).   Here's to a fantastic year full of happiness and joy.  I know we all have had our struggles and hard times.. it's that we get through them that is the most important.  As you eat your fabulous meals today, don't forget the reasons why we even get to celebrate this holiday! 

Weighing In

So, the challenge continues to workout hard and do better at controling myself around the really good stuff (ice cream and chocolate).  As of yesterday I had lost an additonal 2-3 lbs! Hooray! Last week I mostly did spin classes with a little bit of strength training added on a day or two.  This week so far I have been to a spin class and zumba.  I took a day off for cleaning purposes (and not much got done honestly) and now it is Thanksgiving Day!!  Now, I just have to make it through this holiday. I am not going to allow the family to keep more leftovers than we can tackle in a day or two - and the pie... yup, only making one.  So... if you want some, you only get one piece.  I don't need to have half a pie left over to snack on for breakfast each morning.  Haha!  I'll be going to the gym tomorrow to work off the meal and hopefully work off more than that if I can be careful about what I am eating.   Focus more on what you are thankful for today and less about what you want to eat, and you'll win this round!  I know you can do it if I can!

Weighing In

(special thanks to chumpysclipart.com for the image)

It's been a little over a week now that I vowed I would be doing you all a favor by giving you the blessing of seeing less of me over the next few months/hopefully years.  My 6 weeks of food fun is definitely over, I had my post partum appointment this past Monday and I have the all clear to resume working out again.  To celebrate I hit the gym..... HARD.  Monday and Tuesday I took a spin class (Tuesday's class had strength training tacked on to the end of it) which left me feeling sore Wednesday (today).  I had super huge goals to still hit the gym... only after school.  Due to me still having pregnant brain, communication between me and the hubby on coordinating that didn't go so well so I ended up running 1.3 miles after dinner tonight and chased it with some crunches (although I didn't do a ton because I am still sore from yesterday's upper body workout).   Best part is... I actually RAN (OK... jogged) the whole 1.3.  I did my 1.5 loop, but, had to stop at the very end - so maybe it was more like 1.45 - but you get the idea.  Not sure on the time, I will start timing myself when I finish the whole thing.  However, it took about 3 and a half songs on my mp3 player.  I didn't want to push myself to great lengths because then I would have shown up my "more fit" self of almost a year ago.  Plus, I am sure I would feel it later.  It is pretty amazing to me to know that after not doing a whole lot of exercising for almost a year, I can jump back into it and do a decent job!  I love the constant reminder of how stinking fascinating the human body is.  I gave birth 7 week ago for crying out loud!  It's no marathon, but, it's progress my friends.....progress.  As far as the "actual" weigh in... I can't actually say how much I have lost since I haven't weighed myself first thing in the morning for the past few days.  I do feel confident in saying probably around a 2 lbs weight loss so far. 

Eating has been a little sporadic still.  I am trying to deplete my "sabotage" foods that are still left in the house (yes, I actually ate the rest of our ice cream for breakfast).  As we run out of things, I will be replacing them with more produce and natural items rather than the quick "kids" snacks.  I'm sure my kids will scream and yell, maybe even shed some tears.... but we are ALL taking a step towards a more healthy life!

Giving Thanks

(clip art courtesy of justclipart.org)

I love this time of year.  If for no other reason than to help remind us to be more thankful in our lives.  Our family has had one event filled year.  There have been many tears shed - for good and bad.  Even through it all, we have been IMMENSELY blessed!!  We aren't perfect or anything like that, far from it infact, but I am happy to say that I am trying my best to keep taking steps forward - for the betterment of my family. 

Grateful for:
* the hurricane that passed through town, but we still had electricity when we came home and our belongings were safe
* a healthy new family member
* being able to go have a completely unmedicated delivery - any woman knows that we get a lot of assistance from angels through that process!
* scriptures
* opportunity to attend TOFW with my mother and youngest sister
* my parents moving closer to us than they were the previous year
* being able to visit my sister who lives in OR and her beautiful family up until the DAY they grew by one more perfect girl! (three daughters now!)
* having a roof over our heads, vehicles that continue to help us get from point A to point B,  food,  gorgeous children, and a spouse who loves me
* awesome primary leaders and school teachers to help my children learn
* a gym membership that I am determined will help me get back to a size I am happy with
* my testimony, my Savior, and this wonderful gospel
* etc.  This list could go on forever, but it is always nice to be reminded of the tremendous blessings in our lives and to know that they FAR outweigh the struggles - and if it seems you have only struggles, the joy that comes from the blessings you see in your life make the struggles a little more bearable.

To all of you out there.... I hope you see more blessings in your life than trials this season and if not, pray that you notice more of your blessings.   As you smell that pumpkin pie cooking, or the turkey roasting, or even as you chow down on some green bean casserole remember...there is much to be thankful for!  Happy Thanksgiving to you all and enjoy this wonderful season of thanks and giving!!

Battle of the Bulge

Any of you with four children or more know that for MOST women out there, having 4 children in just over 6 years means a constant battle with the bulge.  Well, my 6 weeks of overindulging because I just had a baby and can't go to the gym again yet are now over.  I will be able to hit the gym starting this week (and I am so excited about it.... really I am)!  I am officially kissing this extra weight good-bye!  Hopefully before too long there will be much less of me - a me more suitable for looking the part of my ultimate dream: becoming a personal trainer.  I have wanted to become a personal trainer for a pretty big chunk of my life and am looking forward to the hard work ahead to get myself into shape (and staying that way) so when the time is right, I can finish my schooling and help people (part-time while my children are in school of course). 

Strictly because I need to write this down to remember it and be forced to live it a bit more, I am going to reveal my general plan and hopefully do a much better job at updating my successes (or failures) on an at least bi-monthly (hopefully weekly) basis.  First, I am going to be drinking more water - at least 8 glasses a day and allowing myself a treat a day (until I can control my sweet tooth enough to limit that further to one a week).  I will eat a well balanced diet throughout the day by using portion sizes in what I eat and if I am just too hungry, eat more vegetables and fruits ONLY.  I am trying to experiment with the process a bit by limiting myself to getting my fruit fill in the morning and then fill up on vegetables in the afternoon.  Since I truly believe that sleep is VERY important to successful weight loss, I will be getting a decent nights sleep each night by going to bed early with the goal being 8 hours of rest each night (yes, I am fully aware that I have a one month old under my roof - it's a goal - and definitely something I will be praying for as this process progresses).  My treat will be after dinner in the evenings  - and only be a serving of the treat I choose. My largest meal will be eaten in the middle of the day, alowing my body to digest most of it before I go to bed.  My goal for weight loss each week is 2lbs a week.  Wish me luck!  If any one else out there is doing something similar and needs moral support, I would love to be your cheerleader and it wouldn't hurt for me to have one either! 

A visit and a blessing

Today we blessed our sweet little Lilia.  We were fortunate enough to have my parents and sister along with my hubby's mother in attendance at the meeting to help give their support and wtiness the special day for us.  Lilia was able to wear her older sister's blessing dress (unfortunately Julia didn't get to wear it - she had to wait for her daddy to come back from a 7 month deployment to get her blessing and when that happened, she was MUCH too big for the dress!).  In this family, as far as blessings go, we are kind of traditionalists.  Hunter was blessed in the outfit my husband was blessed in, along with his brothers and their sons.  Naturally, we would do the same with our first white blessing dress in our little family.  Now, off to get it cleaned and preserved properly to keep it safe for future generations!  Here are a few snapshots we got after church (our brains were running a little slower and we didn't remember to bring them to church with us this morning).  I think they turned out cute!  We weren't able to get a picture of Nana with Lilia though because Nana had responsibilities in her ward and had to leave after the blessing.  I am sure her wards primary program next week will be great with her help!  

This is what you get when you try to get all 6 of us to cooperate!!  Fun times! If you don't already know how this is, I suggest you try it sometime!

All my girls - together!  Really hoping this is the start of many more fun pictures of the three of them!

Lilia with my Mom, Dad, and baby sister Jocelyn.  Lilia was getting tired of the picture taking, this in NO way reflects her feelings of my family!  PROMISE!