My weight week...

I weighed in at 156 lbs this morning! Aunt Flo is still visiting, so I'm interested to see how next Monday shapes up.

I love my new app! Lose It is totally awesome and I have only gone over my calories once this week! I am soooo proud of myself and I feel much better too. I am really amazed by how full I am and I am really amazed by the things that I am willing to pass up now because of the Nutritional Info on the box. I totally didn't know that a serving of M&M's has over 1000 calories.

I am still craving my sweets. Thankfully all the halloween candy is in those fun sizes so I can have one or two and not blow my whole day.

All in all I feel like I am doing great for my first week and I hope to keep seeing and feeling results! :o)

I love my girls...

My girls are the best. They love on each other all the time. Cadence is always hugging Rory and Rory is always getting annoyed with how much Cady is hugging her. If I tell Rory no, she crys and runs to Cady for a hug. I love how much they love each other and how well they get along. They are the best part of my world and I look forward to every day that I get to spend learning and growing with them! Bonnie has been an awesome addition. She is soooooo patient with all the crazy stuff that the girls put her through. We love her and life wouldn't be the same without her! Here are some pictures of my beauties. Enjoy...

Weighty Issues...

Some of you may know that I have been trying to lose weight for almost 10 months now. Trying and failing. By trying I mean I would exercise as much as I could get in everyday before the kids would try killing themselves or Rory's insane screaming for me to hold her made working out pretty pointless. I could usually get a good 30 minutes in. I was watching what I ate as well, but not as strictly as I could have. I have never been good at following a set diet plan. I do better just watching my portions of the things that I like to eat, while adding in some new things slowly here and there. Not that I'm not up for new things, I am, but I do have true aversions to certain foods and sooooooooo many "diet" plans include large amounts of my aversion foods. I realize that I sound like I am making up excuses, but honestly I am trying to save myself pain and sometimes embarrassment. Case in point: Tofu. I have several healthy minded friends that have told me time and again that I just need to substitute Tofu for certain other things and that I would feel fuller and it would be healthier, etc. Like I said, I am game for new things so I went out and got some to give it a try. I then spent the next 12 hours vomiting. Yes, vomiting. It was horrible. I am not allergic to Tofu. I have no idea why this happens to me, but it does. I have an extremely sensitive gag reflex when it comes to fish. I love the taste, but after about 3 bites I can't force anymore down no matter how much I like it. There are some other things as well, but you get the point. So for a while now I have been working out and trying to eat better and nada. My body has changed dramatically since my high school days when all I had to do was exercise and my body would stay where I wanted it. Now it takes much much more.

When Brady and I got married I weighed 123 pounds. This past Monday I weighed in at 160 pounds even. I have never weighed this much (when not pregnant) in my entire life. My Dr.'s assure me that I am not unhealthy yet, but I know I am because my body is screaming at me to get the weight off. A week ago I was getting extremely discouraged about it in general. I don't like the woman in the mirror and mirror woman is stubbornly hanging on for dear life (or at least the last 10 months). The worst part is that I can't even blame it on pregnancy! I ALWAYS lose my pregnancy weight within 2 months of having the baby. At the 2 month mark I am always back to where I was before getting pregnant. I feel very lucky, but despite nursing both girls for over a year and staying active and really stepping it up for 5 of those 10 months I GAINED weight. It's frustrating, especially because I have no major medical reason to blame, nor have I had trouble losing in the past.

After two days of self pity (that is the max I will allow myself on any topic) I decided to make some major changes. I found a good tracking app on my iPhone to help me really count my calories (thank you Stef for that one...I remembered reading on your blog about the one you use and you are right! It ROCKS!) The app is called Lose It and it is free. It figured out how many calories I can eat a day if I want to get to my goal weight by losing 1 or 2 pounds a week. It will even help you maintain a weight. You can also input any exercise you have done and it will keep track of that. I have also started taking the girls and the dog on as long of a walk my body can stand (the girls in the stroller are heavy to start, then you add in all the major inclines here in Providence and I am burning everywhere in no time). Once my body gets used to the walks again (I'm giving it 2 weeks) I will then add back in my videos. I think I have picked some good ways to get back on track.

The plus side? I started on Monday with the tracking and my current weight is 155.5. I have already lost 4.5 pounds. I anticipate gaining some of that back temporarily since Aunt Flo will be dropping by today or tomorrow for her monthly visit, but I anticipate that I will have lost some more by the time she leaves.

I wanted to post this here so that I feel more motivated to meet my goals. :o) With you all checking up on me every now and again I won't want to let you down. Plus I want to prove that this can be done. Like I said before, this has never been an issue for me until now. I have always been lucky enough to stay thin pretty easily so this has been humbling and challenging. So keep me in line you guys! I will be weighing in weekly and I hope that I see some changes.

I will say that I feel better now that I am back to exercising vigorously (I have been coming home from these walks pretty wiped out). Thank you to those of you at church who have offered to run with me. Sadly running is not something I can do well, as I have a heart murmur and I have been advised to avoid running and sports like soccer that involve a lot of steady running back and forth. I do play Volleyball and Softball and I can ride a bike (and pull the kids).

PLEASE feel free to share any ideas with me. I can use all the variety I can get my hands on! And thanks for reading all this and for your help in keeping me accountable. I want to be bikini ready next year (even if I wouldn't be caught dead in one!)

Until next monday...

Our Halloween...

This year Halloween was a busy time for our family! We went to the pumpkin patch, played and found the perfect pumpkin (I am very much a pumpkin carving person and my pumpkins need to be just so...) here is what we ended up with! :o)

We had to modify the pattern Cadence wanted to be big enough for the face and, thanks to mom's pro art skills, then we were ready to get to the good part! Cutting!

These pictures would not load in the right order, but I think you can figure it out! :o)

EWWWWW! Gooey fingers! AHHHHHHHHH!

Our Halloween festivities started on Thursday with our ward Trunk or Treat! Brady dressed up for that. Thursday our Master HOA (Providence) had Trick or Treating at the Promenade (a really long walking area between communities that is accessible at both ends and has a little play ground for the kids. Local businesses signed up to hand out candy and to give out information. It was really really fun! Then on Halloween we went to the Shark Reef and had a blast! That night we went to Grandma Suzi's Ward Trunk or Treat and had a blast! Grandma Vivian, Grandpa Randy, Aunt Cecily, Tyson, Uncle Colin, Aunt Heather, Saylor and Paisley were all there and we now have too much candy. Brady didn't join us since he was going on a "guys night" to see Frank Caliendo with all the boys in his family! He said it was awesome and I am glad that they got to have some fun before all of us head our separate ways! Pictures...

Our Lady Bug was a bit afraid of the Afro Pirate...

Brady as the Afro Pirate...

Our Lady Bug...

And our Unicorn...

We had a great Halloween! I hope that you all did too!

Want a bunch of good laughs?

Check this website out:

mylifeisaverage.com

You won't regret it...

Meet our newest little girl...

Her name is Bonnie (I know...not what I would have chosen...). She is 4 years old and is a Chihuahua Mix. We aren't sure what she is mixed with since she is a bit longer than most Chihuahua's and has these crazy awesome spots all over. Her head and ears are a lovely rich brown and she has the sweetest face in the world. She is smart and I am pretty sure that she will be house broken soon (she was pad trained so she we are trying to teach her to let us know when she has to go...). Cady has been asking for a dog for sometime now, and she had some savings from birthday's past so my amazing other mother (Brady's wonderful mom, Suzi) took us down to the NSPCA to check out the doggies that they had. I really didn't want a puppy (way to much work), I wanted a small dog (as small as I could get really) and the dog needed to be good with the kids. We told the gals down there what we were looking for and out comes Bonnie! She started licking us all over and then jumped right into my lap. She let Cadence walk her around really easily and she didn't bark at us or the other dogs around her even when the rest of the dogs were going nuts. We asked Cadence if Bonnie was our dog and she said, "No, she is my dog." The small dog expert thought that was pretty funny. She warned us that the dog would probably want to sleep with someone and Cadence looked right at her and said, "Don't worry, I have a big bed!" It was a done deal from there. We signed the papers, paid the fee, and off we went to get the things that we needed for her to live with us!

I love her already. She sleeps all night with Cadence in her own cushy bed on Cady's bed, and we have only had two accidents so far! She loves to play tug and chase the girls around the kitchen. She is also big on cuddling up with people which Cady loves. She is always licking Rory's nose which makes Rory laugh and doesn't mind when Rory pulls her tail or lays on her/hugs her. The Shelter told us that she came in with a family who had a little girl about Rory's age. They were giving her up because she had been the grandma's dog and she had gone to hospice and recently passed away. Bonnie is very friendly and super sweet. She likes to go on walks and listens to most of my commands. She has been my little shadow for the last little bit and has finally settled in enough that if I leave a room she doesn't always follow. We love our little Bonnie and can't wait to grow old with her!

About time...

I know I am a slacker! Things here have been busy and yet not. We have been transitioning Rory to her own room, which was quite the ordeal since we had to get all my craft stuff moved out of her room! We made a new home for it in the loft (got a sweet new cabinet to store all my fabric in!! Thanks mom!) and I got a new Sewing desk from my Mom-in-law that is totally awesome! I will have to take pictures once I have it completely ready! I painted Rory's room a sunny yellow and we moved her mattress in after it had aired out! She is doing alright in there and it is SOOOOOO awesome to have our room to ourselves again. Brady and I haven't had our room to ourselves since before Cadence was born...yeah...

Anywho, I have been busy getting our house organized and our garage is now full of stuff for the big Providence Yard Sale on the 24th of October. Our address with be on the map they hand out at the information center as will every other address participating so if you are looking for some good deals come on out this way on the 24th from 7am - 12pm!

Cadence and Rory have been great...with a few exceptions of course. Cadence had the chicken pox at the end of August and we thought that was it until she got another out break at the end of September...not cool. Rory has had two Chicken Pox total but she has had a horrid diaper rash for the last two weeks and has been extremely clingy. It has been rough, but Cadence has been a huge help as she tries to keep her sister occupied with silly games and funny faces so I can get a few things done here and there. Other than that things have been really pretty mundane around here! lol.

Brady will officially leave for Boot Camp on December 28th. He will be there for two months and then he will be off to Computer Training for about three months. We are hoping for more details soon, but for now it is nice to know that he will be getting paid and will begin a career that he will enjoy and have the opportunity to grow in! I am really starting to look forward to moving somewhere new and seeing now places and new people!

Here are some recent pictures of the girls...Cadence has been helping me with some product shots for a dear friend who makes the most beautiful bracelets! :o)

We can't decide what color Rory's eyes are...as you can see they are very yellow/golden in the center, but the outside is a grey/blue...I think they are lovely, but when people ask I have no idea what to tell them! lol...


We hope you are all well and are looking forward to Halloween! We are!