Happy New Year!

Happy New Year's Eve everybody!!!! I'm feeling much better today...I got over my little hurdle. I'm still feeling down about my weight but I am feeling that this year WILL be the year I can finally make the changes I need to make to get this weight off. Of course, I won't get my handy dandy tool to help me until at least July but that's OK. I have my 5 more months of supervised dieting to do (which I plan on getting back on track with right after this little holiday). I am SUPER psyched because my hubby and I are actually going out for New Year's Eve. We rarely get out and when we do, it isn't usually with each other. LOL. Two little kids and lack of babysitters can do that to you. But my SAINTLY mother has agreed to take the girls ALL NIGHT. They're having their own little New Year's Eve sleep over party which I'm sure they'll love and Ron and I got a hotel room so we can live it up without worrying about an hour's drive home. WAHOO!!!! On that note, here are some pics of my girls in their "casual" Christmas dresses. They have formal ones for portraits but they loved these. Aren't they cute?

My girls not wasting any time....

Maddie hamming it up

Lori helping Grandpa squeeze lemons (I know it's not a Christmas pic but it's so cute!)

My favorite...Lori looking up to her big sister...

So here's to you, my inspirational bloggers! And to a very happy, SKINNY new year!

Ain't no cure for the Holiday Blues

Hello All. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. As the title suggests, I'm feeling a little down. Let me first say that my Christmas was really nice, the girls were so excited and loved all their presents and the Giant Minnie Mouse was a GIANT hit! That being said...

I fought off the bad feelings for the holiday itself but it started Christmas Eve. I had to get a last minute gift for my daughter so I ran to Target. Both girls were with me so I had to figure out a way to hide the gift until we got to the register. So since I could use a new pair of pajamas any way, I picked up an XL set and wrapped the gift in it so they couldn't see it. You guessed it. They don't fit. I guess I'm not really surprised but the last time I went to Target and bought a shirt there, it fit. So needless to say, it just made me feel fat and ridiculous. So now I have XL goal pajamas sitting in my closet because I just can't bring myself to return them (not that I like them that much but I feel ashamed).

Flash to Christmas day...my husband bought me a very pretty sterling silver bracelet that I had wanted from Macy's. I looked at this thing and I'm thinking there was no way it was going to fit around my fat wrist. It did...but barely. It's not cutting off circulation or anything but it doesn't fit as well as I'd like.

I always feel a little depressed when Christmas is over as it is my favorite time of year and I love the decorations and the Christmas music and all the festivities. So it's always a little sad to me when it's over and the decorations start coming down. I don't take mine down until the weekend after New Year's but still...

We bought new bins for the girls the put their toys in (trying to get organized and cleaner in 2010. LOL) and just organizing their room and picking up all the toys and cleaning everything up left me exhausted. It shouldn't be like this! I'm not even 30 years old! I should have plenty of energy!

I guess it was just a few little things that have gotten under my skin this year - about my weight in particular. Needless to say that month 2 is not going as well as month 1 with all the holiday eating. Blah. I promise I'll be back with holiday pictures and a more positive attitude later this week. Just felt the need to get some feelings out. I know none of this is earth shattering but it just hurts my mood...

Happy Monday to all!

Merry Christmas!

To all of you who have lent your support so far and to those who are sharing your stories and providing inspiration to people like me, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas! I hope you're able to enjoy this time with your family and friends and be truly grateful for all the blessings in your life! I'll be spending the rest of the week Christmas-ing with my family and in-laws (sigh) but will have all of you (especially Cara who is having a particularly difficult holiday season - please keep her in your thoughts) in my thoughts and prayers!

1 down - 5 to go

Happy Friday to all! The appointment went great. I lost 4 lbs! I was really surprised to see that seeing as I haven't been nearly as regimented as I should be. Ron is down 28 lbs!! He's only been doing the liquid thing for 2 1/2 weeks since we started the Monday after Thanksgiving so I think that is fabulous! The doctor was also very pleased with his progress. So I have one month of my six month diet DONE! WAHOO! Hopefully the rest will fly by like this one did. Turns out, our surgeon also did the liquid deal for 6 weeks once...not to lose weight but as some kind of detox thing. I think he just wanted to know what his patients go through which I think is awesome. Just wanted to give an update. Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Minnie Mouse Adventure

OK...this isn't band related at all but I had to share my story. My oldest, Maddie, who is 4 years old has been prattling on about a giant stuffed Minnie Mouse (pic to left to give you idea of size) they sell at Sam's Club. For the last two months, every time we go, we have to go see Minnie. At Thanksgiving, she told a friend of mine that she wanted it for Christmas. My hubby and I, however, decided that with our current financial situation, we would not be spending $60 on a stuffed giant Minnie Mouse that we do not have room for. So after making gingerbread houses on Sunday (will post pics soon), Maddie wanted to write a letter to Santa. So we get out a piece of paper and crayons and my hubby starts helping her (she's getting good at writing letters) so he helps her spell Santa and then asks, "So what do you want him to bring you?"
Maddie: "Minnie Mouse" so they write Minnie
Ron (Hubby): "What else."
Maddie: "That's it."
Ron: "You don't want anything else?"
Maddie: "No. Minnie and whatever else he wants to give me is fine." Then she says...get ready for it... "OH! I want him to bring Lori (her sister) a microphone!" So my heart's melting right now. So I send Ron off to Sam's Club to buy Minnie. We live 20 minutes from the closest Sam's Club. They're sold out. Every Sam's Club in a 40 mile radius is sold out. So I get online and figure I'll just order it that way. Nope. It's over $100 everywhere. I didn't realize Sam's Club had such a good deal. Ron ended up driving over an hour to get this Minnie Mouse. Sheesh. Things we do for our kids. He says it's taking up his whole trunk. Poor guy. But what a great dad. Just had to share.

Band news: First monthly weigh in an hour. Ron has been doing great on the liquid diet. I'm just hoping I didn't gain anything. Too many holiday goodies I'm afraid. If I gained even an ounce, my 6 months starts over. Wish me luck. Happy Thursday everyone!

Quick Update

Just wanted to drop a quick note to give an update. My week (from a weight loss perspective) sucked last week. Just couldn't seem to stick to anything but the "no soda" rule. This week I'm actually trying my husband's protein shake dealies for two meals a day. I'm doing this for two reasons: #1: This week is super busy at work and doing the whole lunch/breakfast thing just isn't going to happen so at least I won't be starving and #2: The one thing I really can't let happen is to gain any weight during my six month diet. I think if I do one week a month of this protein thing and one healthy meal at night...it'll ensure that I at least maintain my current weight. As for my hubby, he's doing GREAT! He's allowing himself one meal a day on the weekend as a reward for doing so well during the week. Saturday he had a big ol' mediterranean salad with very little dressing and yesterday he had a bowl of homemade low cal chili. He officially weighed in Sunday morning and he' s lost 17 lbs already! That certainly helped remotivate him for this week.

As for the rest of the weekend...I got ALL my Christmas shopping done on Sunday. Wahoo! I'm one of those still-shopping-at-5:3opm-Christmas-Eve kind of people so that's HUGE for me. LOL. I went out dancing Friday night which haven't done in years. Learned a couple things...I'm too old for my old stomping ground but still too young for some of the other clubs that had older folks bumpin' and grindin' on the dance floor like they were in some rap video. I think next time I'll have to head off to Scottsdale where people my own age seem to congregate. Overall though, I had a great time. I got to hang out with one of my best friends from high school so that's always a treat! Hope y'all have a great week!

Day 1 of Diet - Success/Obstacle

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was very good...very mellow...and very yummy. So my husband started his liquid diet yesterday and he's doing great! I started my "giving up soda and beer in preparation for the band, start eating better, and drink all my required water" lifestyle yesterday. I am not doing as well. I have not had beer or soda and I really did try to eat better but my youngest daughter's birthday was this past Sunday and that stupid birthday cake was calling to me. Why didn't I send the cake home with my parents, you ask. Because my dad's diabetic and I thought that would just be mean. So instead, it sits in my house taunting me. So I had a slice of cake with a scoop of ice cream last night. But that's it. I'm going to give my daughters a slice tonight and into the trash it will go! So who wants to see pics from my daughter's birthday? I do! I do! Okay...here we go. She turned 2 on Sunday and she loves teddy bears so we did a Winnie the Pooh/Teddy Bear type theme.

My hubby in Pooh ears...isn't he cute?

Yes...I put them on too

My oldest on the new trampoline we bought for her sister

The birthday girl with her hula hoop (which I could not do, btw)

Yes, I made the cake myself - I'm pretty proud of me. LOL

Blowing out the candle

It was a great day! The girls were happy and the little one really loved her special day. I officially don't have any babies in my house anymore! :o( This is something I've been coming to terms with. My husband and I do not plan on having any more children, but a part of me would still like another. One thing is the band...while I know you can get pregnant, take the fill out and have a baby, I just don't think I'd want to put my body through another pregnancy (I am a VERY crabby pregnant lady. LOL) especially if I've hit my goal. There's also the financial part. I really don't believe you should have kids if you can't afford them and right now, we live paycheck to paycheck. Not wanting large age gaps between the kids, by the time we could afford another, I'm not sure I'd want to start all over with a newborn. Aaaahhh...hmmm...all the things women ponder that men don't seem to think too much about. haha! My husband was just like, "Yeah. I'm done." MEN!

Anyhoo...hope everyone is doing well...I've been following along with the other blogs and some are struggling but all of you are truly amazing women who are doing such a great job and are such an inspiration to newbies such as myself. So big ol' thanks to you for sharing your lives with us AND thanks for the advice about my hubby. I've hidden away any not-so-great stuff to eat in the house and am being supportive like crazy. Have a great day!