Reaching Goal

Yesterday I reached my weight goal at Weight Watchers!

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Admittedly, it does feel good. (Fair warning: This post is a bit of a brag post. If you don't want to hear me brag about myself, you should definitely stop reading now)

Last August I finally decided to go on a diet- my first diet ever.

I was not excited. But, I saw pictures like this:

 

And, in truth, the picture below is THE picture that forced me to realize my weight was becoming a problem. I look embarrassingly huge next to Ben, and when I saw this picture (which should be one of my favorites with the girls all dressed up and everything) I really was embarrassed about my weight- which I had never been before:

I finally realized I needed to do something about my weight.

Funny how having three kids can leave you with a few extra pounds.

It's also funny how when I looked in the mirror, to me I just always looked like me. Even now, I don't see me as overweight or skinny, I just see Christina. But in pictures I could see that I had a problem. It's a weird psychological thing. 

Thankfully, Ben never said anything about my weight- EVER. When I told him I wanted to join Weight Watchers, and told him the cost, he said, "OK." I figured if his way of telling me I could stand to lose a few pounds was to support me in joining Weight Watchers I was married to a pretty great man.

I had thought that I could lose the weight on my own. I know a lot of people who can. But, a friend told me, "If you could do it on your own, you already would have." She was right.

You can do Weight Watchers on-line only and pay quite a bit less than if you attend the meetings, but I knew I needed the big accountability piece of going to meetings and checking in every week, so I joined the monthly meeting plan.

I know there are a lot of diet programs out there, but I am glad that I chose Weight Watchers (here's where I start to sound like a commercial). Here are some of the reasons why, in case you are interested:

-It is a healthy way to lose weight- you lose between 1-3 pounds a week over a period of several months, and I find that a very healthy way to lose weight

-I don't have to buy their food. In fact, I eat almost all of the same foods that I always ate before, just in a different and healthier way.

-It didn't require any major lifestyle changes. Granted, my life is different. I think about food more. I calculate what I should order before I get to a restaurant. I exercise more. But all of these changes were small and incremental and made over time so they were easy to add to my life.

-Exercise isn't uber-important. I need to be careful with how I write this one. For me, the bulk of my weight loss came from eating right. But, as I got towards my goal weight I realized that more exercise would really help me. So I tried to add more exercise into my day. This was a challenge because it has been so cold this winter so I can't be outside to exercise, and I have three kids. I can't get away to the gym everyday. But, I pulled out my old Zumba videos and I started doing Zumba 1-2 times a week. I found Camille will dance along with me when Claire is in pre-school. Now, I try to do Zumba 4-6 times a week, and with the sun coming out a little more, I try to get more walking in. It isn't a ton-  Zumba only takes 30 minutes a day. But for me it's enough. I don't need to exercise for 2 hours a day, I just need a little movement and to eat right and it works.

-The support system Weight Watchers provides. I like going to the meetings- it was very helpful for me to meet with others who are either on the weight loss journey or have already achieved their weight loss goals and get inspired by them. When I had a bad week, they cheered me on, and vice versa. I made some good friends.

-It's a life-long program. I now have 6 weeks of what is called "Maintenance" where we tweak how much I eat to see the right amount of food I can have to not lose or gain weight. After that, WW membership is free for the rest of my life as long as I attend one meeting a month and stay within 5 pounds of my goal weight.

-They provided me with all the tools I needed to lose weight (some of it I had to pay for, but at least it was available). A few weeks ago Ben and I went to Quizno's. Before we went, I went on-line and figured out exactly what I would order. We got there and were eating, and a woman came in who was quite obese. She ordered the most fattening sandwich on the menu (I knew this because I had just looked it up), plus chips and a soda. I almost started crying because I realized that simply knowing which sandwich to order- and it wasn't a big deal- was meaning that I was losing weight, and she was staying obese. I was so grateful in that moment simply to have the knowledge of what would be the better choice. Knowledge really is power!

-Weight Watchers has been around for a long time. A friend of mine told me today that her great-great Grandma used Weight Watchers to lose weight. This isn't a flash-diet, it is tried and true.

-My mom used it and had success. I figured if it worked for her, it would work for me.

-And, finally, the #1 reason I am glad I chose Weight Watchers: IT WORKED FOR ME!!!!!!!

After 7 months, I have lost 42.6 lbs!

When I started, I wasn't planning on losing that much. But, I kept losing and it really wasn't hard, so I decided to keep going. I'm glad I did keep going- because now I really do feel great! I weigh less than I did in high school, and I feel really good about myself. I can actually fit into size 4 pants! That's unbelievable for me- I haven't done that since I think junior high. I really can't remember when I fit into size 4! I even weigh less than Ben for the first time in our married lives, which is saying a lot because he is super, super skinny.

But it really isn't about sizes and being skinny. It's about feeling good about yourself, and I really do feel great about me! I have a ton more confidence about my appearance, and I no longer feel like a frumpy mom.  I actually want to do my hair and dress nice. I haven't wanted to do that for years!

It's nice to have done something for ME. I didn't do this for Ben, or for my girls, or for anyone else but ME. And it's nice.

I now have to get all new clothes- nothing fits me anymore. Last week we went to The Salvation Army because they were having their 50% off sale. I got 8 shirts, 3 skirts, and 2 pairs of pants for $24.00. I am very much enjoying my new wardrobe, and I don't miss my old clothes one bit!

Here I am in one of my new outfits:

So, now I have to try and maintain this weight loss. I am actually a bit scared for this part. It's almost easier to be actively losing because then I am so concentrated on what I am eating. Now I have to stay just as concentrated, but everyday just because. But, Weight Watchers has given me the tools to be successful, and I just need to follow them!

Here are a couple of obversations about losing weight:

1. I don't feel like I have a ton more energy. Everybody always says they have way more energy since losing weight. I feel like I have three small children and I am simply tired. But, I guess I do have more energy to run around, I'm still just tired, too.

2. I am always cold. Always. I know it is winter and it is just cold, but I always need several layers to be warm. I hope that goes away this summer!

Flashback

Audra was invited to a Birthday party at The Edge Ice Arena. Both of the girls have been begging to go ice skating, so I called the mom- who I am very good friends with- to see if Claire could come, too. She was more than happy to have Claire come, so we got Ben's parents to watch Camille and we all  headed to the ice rink (Ben and I figured we needed to be one-on-one with the girls for such a potentially disastrous activity. We were right- we both needed to be there!)

Audra absolutely LOVED ice skating! She really took to it and had a blast. She had enough fun, in fact, that she didn't even notice the huge blister she got on her ankle until later that night. I am actually thinking of signing her up for lessons (which are surprisingly cheap for group lessons) because she had such a great time.

Claire...struggled. I think it really scared her to be on ice. She fell once, and so then her hands got cold and she never recovered. There were a few tears. She went all the way around once, and then was done. She did, however, enjoy watching the hockey game going on the other rink for a few minutes. And, I have to admit, she IS more of a hockey girl than a figure skating girl.

 I have some video of Audra skating at the end of this post, but here's a funny story about The Edge: Almost exactly 10 years ago this month, Ben and I met at a church activity at this very rink (though, as Ben likes to remind me, that isn't entirely sure. We met 6 months earlier in Sunday School when he tried to talk to me but he says I gave him the "not a chance, boy" vibe. But, in all fairness, I had just broken up with a boyfriend and was not giving anybody a chance. After Ben reminded me of our first real meeting, I do have a vague recollection of that conversation). Ben remembers me getting a foot massage from another boy there at the rink, but literally the ONLY thing I remember from that night was Ben. He was wearing a yellow hoodie and we skated around the rink a few times together. He was with his sister, and I later told my roommate about him and how I thought he might have a girlfriend, but she told me she thought the girl was his sister. I am glad my roommate was right! I invited a group over to my house after the activity because we only lived a few blocks away. I asked Ben to come, and he said he would. But then he never showed up (he later said he got lost). It wasn't until a few months later that we finally got a chance to meet up again- when I had him assigned to be on my ward camp-out committee.

 And here we are- 10 years later:

And now here's some video:

Birthday!

Today was Grandma's Birthday! To celebrate, Grandma asked us if we would put on a little Family Home Evening (in our church, we make it a habit to set aside one night a week, usually Monday, for 'Family Night.' On that night, we are encouraged to teach a spiritual lesson, play games, sing songs, and have a fun treat. We have tried to do it, and it has been great- for the most part!).

We decided to have the girls reenact The Resurrection of Christ. After all, it's almost Easter. Thankfully, the girls did not fight over parts- Claire was Mary, and Audra was the angel. They picked out their own costumes and learned their parts.

We started the FHE with the girls singing, "Gethsemane"- a beautiful song you can listen to here:




                                                                                                 
Then the girls performed their skit.

 Above: Audra is dressed as the "Bad Guy"- the guy who gave Christ vinegar while on the cross. Below Audra is dressed as the angel:

We had pizza for dinner, and Camille LOVED every bite! She is a huge fan of pizza!

 Audra and Claire are big fans of the cake:

Overall, it was a great night to spend with family and celebrate a very special person! Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Just Life

Things here have been relatively normal. It's been cold, then warm, then cold again. Such is life in Colorado.

Personally, I have been trying to ignore the things happening with our school district. I have avoided active groups and laid low when it comes to the schools.

Sometimes I even think that things might work out.

But then today I met with a friend who works in the neighboring school district. This school district just elected a deformer board, so they are going through every thing we went through. She got to discussing the illegal behaviors that are already occurring, the secret closed-door meetings, and the resignation of the Superintendent.

And it's all so maddening! So all those emotions came back- anger, frustration, disgust.

All these emotions that I have tried hard to send on their not-so-merry way!

But, all is not lost.

I was asked by our church to put together a blog for our stake (our congregations in our city). I have been busy at work on that, and it has been really nice. It's great because I get to focus on the good that is happening here, instead of all the negative.

And, I have to admit, the blog is turning out quite nicely. I am a little prideful, and I know I should repent. But for right now I am just enjoying how well it is turning out!

It has not yet been revealed to the public, so here is a sneak peak of my handiwork. Please feel free to comment on how wonderful it is- even if you have to lie.

HERE is the blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have (though I doubt that is possible!).

And, here's a quote that I need to remember:

Claire's Saga

Parenting has certainly proved interesting. I have learned so many things that only being a mom can teach.

For example, I have learned that making baby food isn't that hard and that child locks work better against adults than chidren.

I also learned that when words come out of mom's mouth, they somehow mysteriously turn into the exact opposite sentence before it reaches the child. For example, if Mom says, "Please clean your room" it automatically morphs into "Take out all of your toys and dump out your games so it takes several hours to piece everything back together." I don't know how it works, but it does.

When Claire was born I had the opportunity to learn about belly buttons. Specifically herniated belly buttons.

Claire was born with a herniated belly button- meaning her belly button stuck out about an inch. It isn't a big deal, but it can be. It's possible- though highly unlikely- that it could get infected and cause death. So, when children have a herniated belly button, if it doesn't close on its own then they do surgery on them to close the hernia and then you don't really need to worry about it getting infected.

Camille also had a herniated belly button (see HERE for a picture), but hers closed so she will never need surgery.

Claire's did not close.

So today Claire had to have belly button surgery.

I did not know there was such a thing, but as with so much of parenting, my kids are opening my eyes to many different worlds that I never before knew existed.

We had to wake up super early and head to the hospital. Ben had the day off of work so he stayed home with the other two- and got to sleep in. It's so not fair.

Here's Claire with her little outie:

 I don't know if Claire was excited for the surgery, but she did seem to like the extra attention she got. Here she is practicing putting the "bubble gum" mask on:

 It was a quick procedure, and she did great. Afterwards she threw up a couple of times (once in the car a mere block from our house, darn it) and she got to watch lots and lots of movies. But she is a tough one, and it showed today. The nurses were impressed.

The hardest part about this surgery is that she can't climb, jump, or play outside for two weeks! We might as well be asking Martha Stewart to stop using a glue gun- it just isn't possible. We ended up taking the top bunk off their bed and squeezing it by the bottom bunk so she can't use the bunk bed as a jungle gym like she usually does. Audra can no longer open the drawers in her dresser, but at least Claire can't climb.

Hey, when you're the mom,  you gotta do what you gotta do!

As a side note, after we moved the bunk down Claire said, "Can we keep it like this forever?" Ben said "No" and Claire said, "OK. How about just until we die?"

Funny Story

I have said it before, but I love walking Audra to school. It has been so cold that we we have not been able to walk for several weeks, but this morning the sun came up and we could. As a bonus, Ben had today off of work, so he stayed home with the other kids while I walked with Audra. It was really nice to have some 1-on-1 time with Audra.

While walking, we had the following conversation:

A: It would be neat if I was a bird and you were a human.

Me: That would be fun.

A: Well, not really because then you couldn't be my mommy.

Me: Oh, that's true. What if you were a baby bird and I was your mommy bird?

A: That would be nice. Except then a fox might try and eat us.

It's so fun to try and figure out what these little minds are thinking!

Our Weekly Headlines

This last week has been...interesting.

First off, it was FREEZING! Literally. Audra had two late start days this week because of COLD- not because of snow. It was in the negatives for 48 hours, and when it is that cold it is difficult to breathe when you are outside. I was glad for the late starts. We got to sleep in- plus, I was in charge of pre-school this week and so I had a shortened class on Wednesday.

 

This picture of Camille makes me laugh. She has this doggy coat, which she seems to like. But then I wanted to get a picture of her in it- and she did NOT want her picture taken! So, she leaned up against the door as much as she could and whined. Too bad for her though, she still looked cute! 

Then, the other news from this last week is that Ben traveled to Las Vegas for work. He was gone from super early Monday morning until this morning. I actually thought that I did pretty well. Ben's parents helped me out a bit, which was great- and needed. Everything went well until Friday morning. And then I just missed Ben. I really wanted him to come home! Thankfully, he is now back- and we are all grateful! Camille was so super excited- she kept bringing all of her toys over for Ben to see- as if Ben had never seen them before. 

The girls made Ben books to welcome him home, and we made a small banner. Audra was worried because I said we should name it "Welcome Home Dad" and Audra said, "Or should it say, 'Welcome Home Ben?'" I assured her that I didn't mind if it said Dad instead of Ben.

We learned something this week: Ben HATES traveling, and I HATE him traveling. I think five days of him being gone is my max. The problem is, it looks like he has a lot of traveling coming up in his future- with some trips being 6 weeks or longer. So, now we're in the unenviable situation of making some grown-up decisions about things that we really don't want to make.

Why can't things just stay the same?

I guess that's life. It could be worse. For  now, I'm just glad he's home and that the weather is slightly more moderate!

Art

The other day the girls were coloring and Audra said, "Claire, when we grow up I bet we will be great artists. Especially you, Claire. You draw beautiful pictures." Claire responded by saying, "I know."

Here's Audra's pictures:

 They decided they wanted to make kites:

 Then here's a sheet Audra filled out about herself at school- I love that she's from "Coworadou"

 Here's Claire's art- she's a little Picasso:

 

And her kite:

You may think that I like Audra's art better as I have more pictures of her art. That is not the case, however. Claire is very meticulous about her art. She will spend an hour on one picture, and so she has fewer pictures.

Camille has also started getting in on the art action. I will post some of her pictures soon.

Funny

Claire had a doctor appointment today. I had Camille in the stroller so we needed to take the elevator. This was the conversation I had with Claire:

Claire: Let's take the stairs.

Me: No, we need to take the elevator.

Claire: I really want to take the stairs.

Me: I'm sorry, we can't.

Claire: Why? Is the stairs broken?

(that's not a typo- that's how she talks)

I got a good laugh from that!

Rapid Reaction

So...

The Super Bowl didn't turn out as exciting as we all thought.

The party started out awesome. The food was SOOOO good- bacon wrapped Little Smokies, Broncos Krispie Treats, Hawaiian Sliders (SOOOO GOOD!), and lots more delicious food. Umm....I'm salivating just thinking about it!

Then the game started.

The safety happened and we were all like, "Huh. That sucks."

Then all of a sudden it's 8-0. We're all sitting there kind-of like, "What is happening?" But, the Seahawks are obviously outplaying the Broncos, and they're only down by 8- just one touchdown. So it's like, "OK- we've got Peyton Manning. Let's get something started."

We eat another slider, look up, and the score is suddenly 22-0.

We were all just stunned.

Even as both a Broncos and a Seahawks fan I couldn't believe what I was watching. It was awfully nice of the Broncos to not show up for the game.

I can't decide if the Broncos played that bad, or if the Seahawks are THAT good.

It was a pretty somber mood at the party. I think everybody was in shock. Everybody left before the game ended.

Nevertheless, I am happy for the Seahawks. They looked absolutely unbeatable on Sunday night. I wish I was in Seattle celebrating with all of you over there!

Go Teams!

You all know that it really doesn't matter to me who wins because I will be SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY regardless of who wins (can it end in a tie? I wish!), but because we are going to a Super Bowl party with all Broncos fans, I will be cheering for the Broncos during the game. I can't risk getting beat up if the Seahawks win!

Predictions

We are busily making preparations for what I think is a bigger day than Christmas! I am making a chocolate trifle and have a veggie and fruit tray ready for my friend's Super Bowl party. Ben isn't too excited to be going to this party (he would rather have a root canal then spend time at a friend's house), but I was able to convince him by swearing he would have a reserved spot to sit and that nobody would talk to him.

Anyway...

What are your predictions for the game?

I have been reading and studying a lot about this game. I know how Pete Carroll failed to recruit Manning to play for the Seahawks, that Rusell Wilson plans to eat "normal food" tomorrow morning, and that John Fox compares his heart surgery to having a sprained ankle.

What I simply cannot predict is who will win this game! I think this game is simply going to be fantastic, and a close one.

Even though it's hard, here's my prediction:

Seahawks 27 Broncos 24

I think the Seahawks will win thanks to a defensive touchdown.

Ben's Prediction:

Broncos 21  Seahawks 20

Ben thinks the Broncos will win by 1 point and that it will be a lot of fun to watch. Don't worry, there is no marital discord as a result of our two favorite teams playing.

Either way, it's going to be great! I hope you all enjoy the game- I know I will!