Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Weekly Update the Third

Wow, I can't believe three weeks have already gone by. It seems so fast and yet so slow all at the same time.
I have one new goal for this week, get up at 6:30am every week day. I've given Ryan permission to wake me up using any means necessary. (I'm famous for asking him to wake me up and then making him go away again. Poor guy) This morning went pretty smoothly, so I have confidence I can do it.

Despite the mid-week setback(Pizza=cheesy deliciousness), I posted a fair week.
Here are the numbers:

Weight Change this week: -3 lbs
Total Weight Change: -14.3

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Conversation with Joshua

I had been working on a longer post throughout the day, but I wanted to capture the conversation I just had with Joshua.

Me: Joshua, are you going poo poo
Joshua: (All Red faced) Yeah!

A minute or two later...
Joshua: Momma, I got poo poo
Me: You have poo poo?
Joshua: Yeah
Me: Should we change your diaper?
Joshua: No

What a funny kid!

"Whoa Baby"

That's the latest phrase we've heard from Joshua. He was copying my Mom and it is pretty funny to hear. I'm so grateful that he is starting to get more into a parroting stage. Joshua has helped us discover that I say, "Let's see" constantly and Ryan says "Wait, wait" a lot.

Oh and Morgan has some teeth! Last Thursday one finally made it through her gums and a second one is right behind it. Teething and nursing don't mix.

Last week was very busy socially, which is very rare around here. We played Wii with some friends. I intended on taking lots of pictures, but Joshua couldn't keep it together and so everyone spent a lot of time trying to get Joshua to stop crying. {Sorry Suzie!} I did get a cute picture of Austin, doing the Hammer Throw in the Olympics game.


Tina came over on Friday and we had such a good time. Of course Joshua wouldn't eat his dinner that night and so there was a bit of drama over that. He actually went to bed without any dinner because he refused to eat his spaghetti(which I know for a fact he likes.)

Saturday we went swimming at my Sister's house and had such a blast. Lots of pictures from that. My healthier living initiative took a back seat that day, but it was worth every delicious bite.

This week I am working, cleaning my Mom's house and hopefully cleaning my own!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Weekly Update 2

Week two has been great. I successfully navigated a family gathering and a recipe exchange without totally derailing, so I'm pretty happy with that. I'm finding myself getting impatient at not being able to physically see the results yet, so I am trying to stay focused on how much better I feel.

I love that everyone is throwing their fitness tips my way. I've taken my measurements so I can also track inches lost. {Thanks Amanda} I'll be excited to see how that one goes. Losing inches is where smaller clothes come in, so I'm excited.

I've decided to take a straight on and profile shot once a month so that I have a visual diary of my progress. {Thanks, Missy}

Lastly, my mini-goal for the week is to drink half my body weight in ounces of water. {Thanks Misty} The trick is going to be not to chug large quantities at once. That apparently slows your metabolism. (Mind you I learned this five minutes after drinking a very large glass of water) That is no bueno.

Let's get down to it!

Weight Change this week: -6.3
Total Weight Change: -11.3

Monday, June 16, 2008

Whole lotta Ensigns

Through some error either at the distribution center or at the post office, we got 8 copies of the Ensign. There were 8 different peoples Ensigns in a plastic bag, and the plastic bag didn't get opened. Our name was at the bottom of the pile and so they all got delivered to us. {I was supposed to take them to church on Sunday to distribute them and I completely spaced it. Oops}
Anyway, I took this to mean I needed to study the Ensign more carefully, and I'm glad I did. There is a piece about the Presidents of the Young Women's organization and my Great, Great, Great Grandmother{Ruth May Fox} was the 3rd president of the Young Womens. {This I already knew, but now it's been brought to the attention of everyone.} She also wrote the words to the Hymn, Carry On.
If anyone recalls the rather lengthy post on the significance of Morgan's name, they will recall that Fox is a family name, and here it is popping up again.
Check it out, it is right in the middle of the Ensign on the page before the insert on President Monson. I really enjoyed the painted picture of her, I don't think I had seen that before.

The Haps

Last week was very full with Dr appointments, visiting teaching, recipe exchanging, and family togetherness.
We celebrated Father's Day, and two birthdays with the in-laws on Saturday. That was a lot of fun and a fair bit of chaos. The family is getting to be pretty big and there are two more little ones on the way, Nanna in December, and Tiffany next February. Tiffany ordered a cute shirt for Capper that said, "Big Brother. Mommy's Pregnant. 2009" It was so cute. I like it especially because the shirt we had for Joshua that said, "I'm the big brother" confused a few people.

Father's Day itself was very low-key which is probably what Ryan enjoys the most. He got his present(Metroid for the wii) last weekend, but I did also get him a new shirt too. We are very lucky that Ryan is such a wonderful Father and husband. We sure do love him a lot!

Here is a random pic of the kiddies. Morgan is usually awake before Joshua, so in the morning I come and set her down in his crib with him. It's always so cute, I had to bring the camera with me.


Morgan's 6 month check-up

I forgot to do an update on Morgan's 6 month check-up. She is 20 lbs and 27 inch long. Both of which are above the 97 percentile. Her growth has started to slow down a bit, so hopefully she will continue that trend.

Morgan also got her eyes checked on Friday. There is a program called InfantSEE which does free screenings for infants 6-12 months. They have a website where you can find an optometrist that participates. I highly recommend that anyone with a small baby put it on there calendar. I also recommend doing it at 6 months, because Morgan wasn't terribly wiggly or fussy during the test. It turns out she has a bit of an astigmatism. Ryan's eyes are the same, so I'm not terribly surprised. We always said between the two of us that our kids were doomed to wear glasses.

The solid foods issues continues to be a challenge. Oatmeal doesn't seem to be giving her that rash, although last night she started to get a rash in her neck/chin area. I'm wondering if it is a problem with my milk. After all, it doesn't usually get on her skin. Maybe I ate something that her skin is sensitive to. We will keep trying to puzzle that one out.
Here is a video of one of the attempts at oatmeal. I've learned a few tricks since this video, but very little food actually gets swallowed at this point. Also, if you've never heard Joshua speak, he says a few things in the background of the video.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Recipe Exchange

This is just a quick post to say that I went to another recipe exchange and boy was it delicious. Check out the South Mtn Recipe Exchange Link on the right if you want some Summer Party type recipes. {Besides my own recipe, I think the Cowboy Caviar was my fav} I made a fruit pizza. It was delicious. Per usual, I have to give my Mom credit for introducing me to this recipe. Sugar cookie + Cream cheese frosting + fruit = bliss


Hopefully Monday-ish I can update on all the comings and goings.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Weekly Update 1

Today is day seven of my Get Fit challenge. I decided to do a weekly update on how things are going. I've lost about 5 lbs this last week. It may be slightly more as we've had some scale issues around here and the scale I was using every day is not working anymore. Good thing we have another, plus the Wii Fit which also weighs you.
I'm doing really well on all of the goals I set for myself. Areas to improve on would be my journaling, and last night I didn't do all of the dishes.

The best part is how good I feel. Cutting out soda and exercising has made such a difference in how I feel. I feel like a new person, I just have to be patient until I look like a new person too. It's funny to talk about how good I am feeling, because I am pretty sore from using muscles that I forgot I had.

I inadvertently bought a Goal shirt for myself. It looked like it would fit at the store, but it's just a smidge too tight in certain areas. So it looks like I have my first small reward for myself, when it fits. I think I'll try it on every Wednesday to see my progress over time. I'll bet that realistically it won't fit for about 6 weeks, since that is how long it takes for your body to start changing shape.

Oh and thanks to Danya, I've been drinking 16 ounces of water as soon as I get up in the morning. I don't know for sure that it works, but it sure makes your tummy grumble. I think that is a good sign.

Weight Change this week: -5
Total Weight Change: -5

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Lots of Happenings

It's been a busy week with lots of good things going on. I'm not a full week into my goals, but so far I have done very well. I figure I'll give the occasional update since I got such an overwhelming show of support from everyone.

Morgan turned 6 months old on Thursday. We gave her, her very first rice cereal and she got this crazy rash on her chin where it dribbled on her. SO no more rice cereal until I talk to the Doctor. She has her 6 month check-up on Monday, so hopefully we can sort it out. She is starting to get grumpy that she can't have what we are having.


Friday, my Mom and I walked around the mall twice before it opened. It is very nice not having to deal with the crowds. We also took a trip to Kohl's and bought most everything in sight. We had a very fun day together. I love that she gets Friday's off in the summer. Joshua also managed to trick me into two bagels for breakfast. He thought he was awesome.


After nearly stalking Costco employees, we procured a Wii Fit on Saturday. Ryan drove to the Costco on Sossaman, they were out when he arrived. So my Mom took off to Thomas and picked us up one. Yay! It is both fun and a pretty good work out. My one complaint is all the "talking" it does before you can select the next activity. If you are trying to consistently keep your heart rate up, it could be a little challenging.
We also checked out a new park on Saturday. It is the Cesar Chavez park on 35th ave and Baseline. It is apparently the largest Urban fishing lake in the valley, or some such. If you walk all the lay around it and around the island it is 1.3 miles. This link takes you to a handy google pedometer where I charted out the course. Maybe my fellow South Phoenicians can tell me if they've ever been there before. We never really go west of our house, always east. Regardless, lots of fun. Joshua even fed some ducks the last of his bagel.


That takes us to Sunday, where we enjoyed church. I ended up waking up at 5:30 due to Morgan and so we had a nice relaxing morning of getting ready, instead of the usual chaos and grumpiness. On the whole, it made all of church a much nicer experience.


Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Revelations

Today I am going to do something that I find personally very scary. I am going to tell the whole world{via my blog} that I know I am obese, I'm not happy about it, and I am going to work to change it.
Hmmm! That was liberating.

I've struggled with weight issues pretty much as long as I can remember. Whether it is true or not, I think it really snowballed when I was diagnosed with asthma as a child. I would cough for hours on end, and then I discovered that if I was eating or drinking something I wouldn't cough. And so it began. More eating + Less moving = Trouble
I don't discuss my issues with anyone except for maybe Ryan and sometimes my parents. Primarily because I know I'm overweight, you know I'm overweight and me making offhand comments about how I'm fat isn't going to do anything but make us both uncomfortable.

I can't tell you what specifically light a fire under my behind, but something yesterday just clicked. Last night as I was feeding Morgan at about 10:45, I came to the realization that I could not wake up one more morning to my same old messy house. Toys everywhere, groceries that hadn't been put away, crumby floor, etc, etc. So at shortly after 11pm last night, I got up and cleaned. I cleaned until about 1:30 and got a lot done. During this 2.5 hours of alone time with the mess, I came to the conclusion that I really had not been holding myself accountable for the poor choices I had been making in regard to diet and exercise. Slothfulness comes to mind in regards to several aspects of my life. If I was working in the middle of the night so that I didn't have to wake up to a dirty and depressing house, I was going to "clean house" in a few other ways as well.

Kudos if you are still with me.

Another reason I keep a lot of these issues to myself is because public failure is humiliating. I don't particularly care for humiliation. Now I don't have the option of quietly giving up and going back to my old ways. People will be watching and more likely than not, scrutinizing the choices I make.

Here are a few things I am going to do to help me change for the better:
♦ No Television that I find entertaining while Ryan is at work. (I'm not going to tie my hands on Joshua's favorite shows. Sometimes a Mommy needs a break)
♦ I will keep a food diary detailing what I have eaten during the day.(That's worked marvelously well for me in the past)
♦ I will phase out soda consumption. I still have a few Diet Cherry Cokes around the house that I will probably finish off, but no new soda purchases. No soda at restaurants either.
♦ I will reach for a glass of water everytime my mind thinks it is hungry.
♦ I will do some activity that elevates my heart rate for at least 40 minutes, at least 4 times a week. {We are getting Wii Fit as soon as we can find a copy, so I'm not going to be uber specific on exercise goals at the moment}
♦ I will search to find and subsequently minimize my triggers for emotional eating.
♦ I will pay closer attention to my portion sizes. (Time to bust out my fancy food scale)
♦ I will not succumb to fad dieting(That means you, Dr. Phil!)
♦ I will print out my goals and keep them handy.
♦ I will strive to keep my expectations realistic and find small ways to reward myself for a job well done.
♦ I will not go to bed at night until the sink is empty of dishes and the toys have been put away. (Not directly a fitness goal, but if you feel good about your surroundings, it is much better to feel good about yourself.)
♦ I will not get defensive or shy when you ask how it is going. I will be happy to share my progress, setbacks, or whatever.

I'm sure there are more and I'll add to my list when I think of them.

21 days to make a habit. Here is to day 1!


Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Morgan's Kitty Towel

Hot car

Talk about a day of many posts!

This story is primarily for Monica, because she said something about Pratt that made me think of this story but I never got around to telling it. I'm going to save us both some phone bill $$ and share here. Just goes to show that even with the second kid I still have a few paranoid tendencies left.

Last Friday on our way back from the pool party, Morgan was just absolutely exhausted. Crying her head off and just so tired. When I put her in the car it was pretty hot and this did nothing to improve her mood. Well as soon as the car started moving she instantly stopped crying and was seemingly asleep. I reached my hand back to her after a minute and she had that whole dead arm thing where you can pick their arm up and drop it and they don't notice. I was able to rouse her a little bit but due to the heat and the speed with which she feel asleep, I was a bit worried. So I pull over and hop out of the car to check on her. I start messing with her enough so that she peaks her eyes at me and then she's right back asleep. We get back on our way and shortly after we get on the highway, I have that nagging doubt in my head again. So I reach back to her and pinched at her until I was able to rouse her a bit. Poor thing was so exhausted that all this hassling didn't phase her in the slightest.

Everybody Blogs!

I've come to the realization that everybody blogs. It is insane. I will be adding a link section for people I grew up with. In my parents ward there was a group of about 7 of us that grew up in the same primary/sunday school class since we were very small. There were also people either the year older or younger than us that we were friends with too. Most of them keep in touch better with each other than I do, but turns out most everyone has a blog.
Tina Huber (blog forthcoming)
Jeff Mousser
Kevin Johnston
Nicole {Ganem} Schneider (Has a blog, but it is private. If anyone knows her contact info, I'd love to get in touch with her to say Hi)
Amanda {Romney} Anderson
Alison Johnston
Amanda {Painter} Westover

I would not be surprised if there were even more that I just haven't found yet. We are all growed up. A little sad but very exciting all at the same time.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Wading Party

Last Friday we were invited to a swim/splash party by Holly. It was lots of fun. We went last year but this year I took a few pictures. {Click on the link to hear more about last year's trip out there}
I snapped off about 8 pictures in 2 minutes before I dropped my camera in the water. {ominous music} I sort of wish it was completely fried, because I really want a new camera. However it is back in working order after some drying time. Everytime I change batteries or the memory card I have to reset the date. I'm guessing there is some battery inside the camera that usually holds that information. Hopefully I can find it and replace it. I did have the strange urge to take a picture of everything when the camera was out of commission drying. It made me strangely anxious not to have a working camera. I'm pretty sure I'm a big weirdo.

Thanks for the invite Holly! Like I said last year, if I get invited again, I'll be there if at all possible. So fun!

Here are a few of the pictures
1. Here's a good shot of the whole fountain.

2. Morgan and Tiffany. {Tiffany and Capper came too!} We couldn't get Morgan to look anywhere but at the little fountain. She was mesmerized.

3. The boys. Joshua, Josh, and Capper. Another little boy Eric came a little later but my camera was already wet by then.

The only other thing to make note of is that swim diapers don't absorb pool water, which means they also don't absorb pee. Capper had a leak before we got in the pool. Morgan peed on my leg while we were eating lunch. I probably should have changed her into a regular diaper when I decided the water was too cold. Oh well, you live and learn.

Dinner Calendar