gold star for me

I am feeling good. These changes I have wanted to make are falling into place. My cleaning projects are being completed. I am so proud of myself for keeping on track. Just needed to give myself a virtual pat on the back for keeping with my goals!

Feeling good

My new goals are going... I mean I haven't given up completely yet so that is one score. :) The house is slowly getting cleaner. (It was kind of really bad, so I didn't expect it to be perfect overnight.)

Today, I spent a couple hours (yes, hours) cleaning the girls room. Holy crap people, my kids are spoiled to death. They have soooo much stuff. It wouldn't have taken me so long if I wasn't lazy about keeping up on it, well, that and if my kids weren't little piglets. All that I have left to do is clean the carpets. Which is going to be quite the task. Those girls have ruined beige carpet. I will NEVER ever put carpet in a kid's room if it were my choice. Hardwood floors and area rugs WILL be in my future. :)

Arabel was sick yesterday. I don't know how to deal with sick kids. Random, but I don't know what to do. My kids don't really ever get sick. Yesterday was a test for me. I mean I cleaned up puke, like a lot of puke and didn't even wince. I bathed the sick one quickly, redressed her, and then cuddled her while cleaning up said puke in 3 rooms of the house. She is perfect as pie today. I got to cuddle her all day, and it was great. She is so on the move that I don't really ever get to spend hours cuddling her. Cuddles, a banana and a good nap made a world of difference. :)

I even took Emma for a bike ride yesterday. I was like super mom. Except for the part where I let Emma fall over and scrape her knee. At least she was wearing her helmet.

Arabel is also officially out of her crib. I think that I may be a little crazy for doing it, but she seems to like it so far.

I think that I just died

of happiness. Mint Green with Envy just posted this giveaway. Look at this purse!!

I have been searching for the perfect yellow purse. :) Morelle may have just answered my prayers. *sigh*

I would like to introduce you to...

my new best friend. (It is not a great friendship to form when you are trying to lose weight.) I love him. His name is Micro S'Mores.

Yup, I said it. My new best friend is a handy little gadget that makes my most favorite dessert in the microwave. No open flames, no burnt marshmallows... just melty, yummy, gooey goodness.
It even came with a recipe book. Who needs a recipe for a S'More? Well, my darling readers... it was full of amazingly delicious sounding variations. I decided to be adventurous and try it out with an Almond Joy instead of the typical chocolate bar. Holy moly, it is my new favorite thing ever.

I wouldn't suggest using more than one marshmallow, it kind of oozes out of the graham cracker and makes a bit of a messy dessert.


*I didn't get compensated in any way for this review. Just my humble opinion.

so far so so.

I have been doing OK with my new goals. I have been in bed on time, so that is great!!! I am watching calories (well, sort of) and have majorly cut down on pop. My new best friend is iced tea. My cleaning routine is coming along. I feel like I am playing catch up but so far, I am not disappointed. I haven't exactly started exercising, but I am OK with where I am at so far.

I had to take Em into get her shots for school today. That was ummm.... fun. She freaked when it was time to get the actual shots and had to be held down by 2 nurses and me, all while kicking and screaming. As soon as the nurse was done, E politely apologized for screaming in her ear. I wiped our tears and went to the car and immediately called my mom. I was terrified of needles as a child and I remember being held down by multiple nurses to get blood drawn. I knew that she would sympathize. She did, as I was telling her that things like that make me feel like such a bad mom, Emma pipes up from the back seat. "Mommy, you are not the worst mom in the world. In fact you are the best mom in the whole world. I know you had to do that to keep me healthy. That is why you are the best mom ever." I have never gotten a better compliment ever. The fact that it came from tear stained 5 year old made it even better. We treated ourselves to some coffee type drinks as a reward for making it through. It wasn't the most ideal way to spend an afternoon, but it worked out in the end.

To make today even better, I made E's favorite dinner grilled cheese. We had grilled cheese and applesauce on the deck as a picnic. It wasn't the world's most nutritious dinner but it made her happy. Dessert was s'mores in the microwave. It was a good end to the day.

My glass is half full.

check this out

I know some talented people!! Little Bug Jewelry is on one of my mom boards. She is ridiculously talented!! I have been drooling over everything in her shop for as long as I have known about it. I learned that Mint Green with Envy is hosting a giveaway. I HAD to jump at the chance to get entered. :) Check it out!!

On my way to a better body.

Here is it. As of today 5/16:

Weight: 150
pant size: 8/10

I will be posting periodic updates on my progress!

the glass is half full

I have always thought that I was an optimist. Lately, I have noticed that I am much more of a Debbie Downer than I have ever been before. This is going to change. I am going back to my happy go lucky self.

I am tired of being tired and seemingly always crabby. I am tired of having a dirty house. This is going to change. I am tired of feeling like I am not spending enough "fun" time with my kids. This is going to change.

I made a schedule... Every day there is something cleaning wise that will HAVE to be done. If I force myself to do the things that I have planned, then they will more than likely get done. We aren't a very scheduled family, and I feel like we kind of need the structure, for me as much as the kids.

I am going to go to bed at a normal hour, when I can. Midnight at the latest will be my goal for those days that I am not working. On nights that I do work, I will give myself an hour of unwind time and then it will be off to dreamland. Hopefully, this way when the kids get up I will not feel like a zombie. This should also help the "fun" time dilemma. We are going to have at least one day per week that involves getting out and about. We have a membership to the local children's museum, why not take full advantage to it?

Emma is going to start getting an allowance. She will have a list of tasks that she is required to complete in order to earn her allowance. This will include things like: be kind and polite & follow directions along with her daily chores (put dirty laundry in basket, pick up/ put away toys, etc.) I am struggling on how much a kid should get these days? I was thinking that $5 a week would be good. Let me know your ideas.

Rob and I are also going to have to be on a better budget. I am going to figure out exactly what bills are due when and how much they are. From that we will figure out how much wiggle room we have for eating out, etc.

I am ready to be healthy, like really healthy. I am ready to make the commitment. I am going to start getting into shape. I am not getting any younger and the longer I wait the harder it will be. I want to be a super hot mama!! I am kind of jealous of those facebook posts about taking a run. I WILL be one of those people. I would love to lose some of the leftover baby weight and tighten those abs back up. I figure that if I stick with it I will reward myself somehow, maybe a new iPod so I can listen to a kick ass work out mix with it.

Writing it down will now keep me accountable. Bug me about it, guilt me into working out if I haven't. I may need the push. lol

a year older

I am officially 29 now. It was less than exciting. Next year I am hoping that Rob does something awesome for me.

Mother's Day=awesome. I slept most of the day and was awakened with lettuce wraps and a coke from McD's. The kids got me a throw blanket and a bigger memory card for my camera.

Bday= kind of lame. Mom made me cupcakes, I was surprised with a cake at work. I am guessing that I don't get presents anymore... which kind of sucks. I take that back, one of my faves at work got me a pretty kick ass present, that consisted of Dollar Spot items from Target. Seriously, it was a Disney Princess explosion and it is awesome. (I am currently rocking one of my princess headbands.) I did get a nice framed picture of me and gfs too. I guess that I should stop bitching... I did have like 100 (not exaggerating here) people wish me happy birthday on facebook.

Other than that little update, there is NOTHING new going on with me.