I burnt dinner...

I was cooking dinner when my Princess came up to me and asked me if I would play with her and her brothers.

I couldn't pass up those puppy dog brown eyes. They just melted my heart, plus sometimes they will play with their toys longer if I am in there.

I walked down into their room and immediately lost myself in a world of make believe. It was as though I was transformed from one world into the next.

I got so carried away I forgot about dinner. But between putting skirts on my head like a headband and helping my kids get in their "fanciest" clothes, I lost all track of time.

Before I knew it, I had the dinner simmering away and we were having a dance party! We like to dance to Taio Cruz Dynamite and to Shakira Waka Waka. We turn up the speakers on the computer and have a blast!

 Even the boys like to be fancy! I guess it's time we get some "boy dress-up" clothes!!

 I think I could actually be part of Shakira's Waka Waka video with this outfit on! I had so much fun and a dance party is just another way to burn a few extra calories!

I will burn dinner any day if it means I can see these three cute kids laughing and smiling! It's the best part of being a mom!


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What do you think is the best part of being a mom?

--I love the laughing, the hugs, and the unconditional love! It's amazing how much such little people can love!

What are your plans for the weekend?

--We're probably going to start packing up this apartment! I can't wait to get out of this place and into a house that will have much more room than we do now!

Proud of myself...

I have been "practicing" yoga off and on since Oswald and I got married. Some times I "practice" more often then other times.

The last couple of weeks, I have been doing the Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown DVD and to be honest, I am sore when I am done! She's amazing at getting you to work extra hard, even when it's through the TV.

One of the moves in this DVD is basically a headstand without putting your head on the ground...then keeping your elbows bent place your knees on your triceps.  Following me?

I have never been able to do this move. I can maybe get my feel off the ground for a few nano seconds, until the other day.

I was so excited I could finally do the move that I made my Little Man take a picture of me! Check me out!!!

Sorry the pictures are so bad...sometimes my Little Man doesn't take the best shot.  But note: my feet are off the ground, my head is off the ground, and my knees are resting in my triceps. A-ma-zing! If I may say so myself!

For the Love of the Outdoors!

Their bikes had been calling their names for weeks.

The sun had been calling my name for weeks.

The park had been calling our names for weeks.

We packed up our "new to us" truck with our bikes, helmets, stroller and of course, sunglasses.

The kids were excited to ride their bikes. My Princess gets so excited that she peddles incredibly fast, so fast in fact that she can't keep her foot on the peddle.

My Buddy is much better at the bike thing, but he's not very adventurous. But together, they make a great pair.

She helps him go slow enough for me to keep my eyes on him, and he helps motivate her to go faster and continue riding.

As for me, I tried running. I have been working out with my Wii Fit Plus and one of the workouts is running. I enjoy, for the most part, running in place in my house, but I really wanted to run outside with my kids on their bikes.

So with the sun beating down on us, we took off. My Buddy was in the lead the whole time and my Princess needed some motivation. As she would peddle faster, I would run. I ran for a little while, but then my lungs began to feel as though someone was crushing them. Like I had been a smoker all my life (I've never even tried smoking).

I glance around and see that there are several men packing up their lawn mowing equipment. Ah-ha! I am allergic to grass and the clippings make my asthma flare. But I don't give up...I keep running. I ran-walked for close to 2 miles.

I'm pretty proud of myself for not giving up. I can't wait to try again--this time not on a Tuesday when the laws are being mowed!

Biometric Test

 My Princess, My Buddy, and me at a pumpkin patch in North Carolina Oct 2009

Oswald's job provides us some awesome health insurance, and because we are healthy people, we get a discounted rate. Recently, we got these forms in the mail telling us that in order to keep our discounted rate, we needed to have a biometric test done and to fill out a questionnaire on-line.

Upon completing the on-line questionnaire, my score was a 79. It asked questions ranging from how often do you exercise to are you a smoker. A point value must have been correlated with each different answer in order to give me a specific score. It never said if 79 was good or bad, but I obviously have room for improvement.

Then we woke up early one morning, didn't eat breakfast, and had our Biometric Test done. What is a biometric test, you ask?

According to www.kershwellness.com it is "The standard procedure collects height/weight, blood pressure and blood chemistry from individuals... The blood chemistry includes: Total Cholesterol, HDL Cholesterol, LDL Cholesterol, VLDL Cholesterol, Triglycerides and Glucose."

Basically, it's a snapshot of my overall health. After waiting for almost an entire hour to be seen at this Urgent Care facility is company had approved, I was called back.

I stood on the scale, and I am happy to report that since my 6 week postpartum Dr visit, I have lost 17 pounds! I have grown 1 whole inch since I was in High School. Maybe instead of shrinking as I get older, I'll be the rare case of someone getting taller!! My BMI is not exactly where it should be, but because I am a nursing mom I carry more fat on my body anyway. However, my bad cholesterol is High. My good cholesterol is Low. My sugar and all of the other things they checked were good.

Now my focus is on my Bad/Good cholesterol numbers. I am checking out the steps I can make to eat the right food to help this problem here. And I am also following this blog that gives good exercise advice, and has super yummy recipes!

About a year after Oswald and I got married, I had a health scare. I ended up having a full panel of blood work done, and found out that my cholesterol was high. I don't exactly know how high, but I will never forget what the doctor said to me.

He looked at me and scared the pants off me, "If you don't lose 20lbs, in 20 years you'll have a heart attack and die!"

That's all it took at that time to scare me to change my eating habits. With this biometric test, I have been shocked back into reality. Heart attacks are the #1 killer among women in the United States. I don't want to be one of those women. I have 3 beautiful kids and want to have more. I need to be healthy to be here for them and for Oswald because let's face it, what would he do without me?

I need to hold myself accountable for my health. I need to be my biggest supporter, and I'm trying!

Needing Motivation

About a year after my Princess was born, I went on a diet, The Biggest Loser Diet to be exact. I lost quite a bit of weight and I was beginning to feel really good about myself. I liked the way I looked in my clothes and I liked the way I felt.

Not only was I eating correctly, but I was also exercising. I had energy to do things around the house. I had energy to play with my kids. I had the energy to be the kind of wife and mother I wanted to be.

Then, life got stressful. When life gets stressful, I eat. I find comfort in food. I let food temporarily remove the stress from my life. 

Then, I got pregnant. When I’m pregnant I like to eat. I feel as though I should be allowed to eat what I want because I am trying to grow another person inside my body. 

I rationalize eating. I rationalize everything.

I recently started to watch my eating and to exercise on a regular basis. Little did I know that my Little Man would sabotage my weight loss plan. He had been sleeping through the night like a champ, and then one day he decided to wake up every two hours. This went on for weeks and there was no way I was going to wake up extra early to work out when I was only getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night.

Enter rationalization. I decided that because I am nursing a baby, I am burning calories and I don’t need to exercise. And a lack of exercise led to my lack of desire to watch what I eat.

I feel that in the last few days I have completely undone everything I had worked so hard to achieve. “Why do I need to eat right if I’m not working out” is what runs through my brain these days. 

I need to change that mentality. I need to be motivated to get my act together; to eat right and exercise, if not for me, then for my family. I need to take care of myself, so I can be here to take care of them. 

So what do you do to stay motivated when trying to shed the extra pounds? Do I really need to buy a scale and focus on the number, or can I just watch my pant size go down? I need some motivation here!! Help Me!!!

It's been a hard day...and it's only noon!

Yesterday I decided to get up early and exercise and have a little devotional with myself...remember...I'm trying to turn over a new leaf here.

Well, I set my alarm for 6:03am and got up. Read my scriptures and did some Zubma.

I was actually showered and dressed BEFORE 9am! It was a miracle! I was totally energized all day long. I was able to get a little organized for my new calling as Young Woman's President...more on that later.

I felt good. I was able to get some "me time" in the morning and in the evening. Oswald went to bed at 8pm, so I was alone until I retired at 9:30pm. I was totally stoked to follow the same routine this morning, only my little man changed all of my plans.

His normal routine consists of an early morning nap, about an hour long, a morning nap, about an hour long, an afternoon nap, 3-4 hours long, and an evening nap, usually from 5-6pm. Well, last night was different. He went down for his evening nap and didn't wake up...that is until I had already climbed into bed and gotten comfortable. He started "talking" in his bed, so I rolled my lazy bum out of bed and into his room to nurse him. He ate and ate, then I tucked him back in bed.

I have a problem when it comes to sleeping, it's hard for me to do it. I can stay asleep just fine, it's the getting to sleep that's difficult. So after I put him back to bed, I laid down and rolled around in my bed until 11pm. At midnight, my little man was really unhappy. I checked his diaper, tried burping him, I rocked him, everything. All he did was sit there and cry! He was totally unhappy!

Luckily, I had some frozen breast milk to feed him, so he got to have some more mommy's milk from a bottle because there was no way I was going to produce more. I had tried after all and he just screamed at me!

After he drank that bottle, he drifted off peacefully to sleep!

At 2:30am, Oswald was kissing me goodbye for the day. He checked on the little man and he was sound asleep. Thank goodness!

At 5:30am, the little man awoke. I picked him up and took him into my room. It was a battle of wills. His screaming will and my will to feed him and get back to sleep. My will won. He finally got what he needed and slept for another two hours, but there was no way I was going to get up at 6:03 again. 

So my new leaf has to be started over again tomorrow.

This morning has been a hard one. I tired exercising and he did well for 20 minutes, but that was it. I had to hold him for the last half of my Zumba DVD. Then I fed him and he was pretty good for 30 minutes of piano practice. But he didn't last for long. He wanted me to hold him. Then, a few minutes later, he releaved himself. He hadn't used the bathroom in 2 days, so I think he might have been a little constipated. Now he's feeling much better and is taking his afternoon LONG nap!

Let's hope tomorrow is better!

Do you have any stories of how your kids changed all of your plans? How did you get back on track? Any ideas to help me produce more milk?

Exercise and kids

My little man is only 3 months old, so I am still trying to lose most of my baby weight. I am about 50-50 when it comes to exercising. 50% of the time, I want to exercise the other time I don’t. I always feel better after exercising, but it seems like I lack the motivation or my kids are in the way making it hard to do what I need to do.

A few things I am working on in order to drop those unwanted pounds are:

1. Exercise while the kids are sleeping, eating, or otherwise distracted. Sometimes I will get the scissors out for my kids and let them “craft” while I exercise. As long as you don’t mind cleaning up small pieces of paper, scissors are a great distracter
2. Get your husband on board. I will put on my exercise DVD and my hubby will wrestle with the kids or take them into another room and play while I am working out.
3.  Get those kids out there exercising with you. I found a really cool park that has a walking trail that is wide enough to have bikes and my stroller. Get the kids out running while you push the baby in the stroller. That way everyone is getting exercise AND you just might tucker those kids out enough to get a good nap that day!

I can lose my temper if my kids get in the way of my exercise, mostly because it is not my favorite thing to do.

What are some ways you get your exercise with your kid’s home? I can always use the suggestions, so what do you do to drop those unwanted pounds?