Caramel Apple Pork Chops

I made the caramel apple pork chops last night.  J's comment when he walked in to door?  "You'll find a way to add sugar to anything!"  It was so good, though!  Definitely worth a try!   HERE is the link if you want to give it a try.  Don't forget to read some of the comments to see what other people recommend doing.  For example, a lot of people recommend doubling the sauce.  The boys even loved this meal! 

Stacy and I tried Zumba today.  It was fun!  Tomorrow will be the second time I step on the scale at the gym.  I don't think I've lost weight yet, but hopefully I haven't gained any!  I walk past the scale every time I leave the locker room and it's been very hard not to step on it and take a peek at my progress.  I don't think it would be good to weigh myself all the time, though.  I will allow it once a week, but not more than that.  And I am making myself promise not to be upset if it doesn't show any change for the first month or so.  It took more than a week to put it on, it will take more than a week to get it off. 

Personal nightmare, I mean trainer :)

My gym gave me one free session with a personal trainer.  I was really nervous about going, but excited too.  I can now understand why people spend so much money on meeting with them every week!  I learned how to use a lot of the equipment and it was motivating because I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of him.  I felt like I HAD to work hard instead of giving it a half effort.  I don't normal give it a half effort, but I tried harder than normal.  I learned that some of the things I was doing were not correct.  For example, my goal is to burn calories.  I thought it would be best to do the elliptical at a decent pace for 30 minutes instead of burning myself out and then slowing down.  The PT said that if I do the elliptical on intervals, I will actually burn more calories than if I just went at the same pace the whole time.  By a lot.  I used to do 50 RPM with a resistances level set at 6.  He had me doing 70 RPM at level 8 for 2 minutes, and then I was able to slow down and lower the level for a minute, then back up.  Like I said, he also showed me how to use different pieces of equipment.  Not sure how much I'll actually take advantage of that, but I think I'll do some of it.

I've been doing ok with my eating too.  Not great, but not terrible.  I stepped on the scale at my gym and found out that my parents' scale is 5 pounds off.  I weight more than I thought.  Bummer!  Oh well.  Just means I have to work harder.  I'd like to lose about 9-10 lbs before out trip to the beach this summer.  At this point, I am not sure how realistic that is.  But I'll do the best I can.  I feel like 1/2 a lb a week is good for me.  If I am able to do that, I'll be close but not quite there.  I'll be happy with that :)

My family tried a "Green Smoothie" this past weekend for breakfast.  It was pretty good!  It needed more fruit, but that's easy to do.  Even the kids drank it.  Not a lot of it because they had already eaten some cereal, but I think I could get them to have that for breakfast a couple times a week.  For those of you who don't know, a green smoothie is green from spinach.  You can't taste the spinach though.

I've fallen back to just planning our main meal for each day.  With all the other areas I've fallen behind on, I'll let this one slide until I get back on track with everything else.  Our dinners this week are:

Baked Chicken with some yummy seasoning
Chicken Fajitas
Shepherd's Pie
Tacos made with ground turkey
Caramel apple pork chops

Monday's are usually my day to go grocery shopping, but I've got two kids who are acting like they're coming down with something.  J is a wonderful husband and agreed to go for me :)  Hopefully my kids stay healthy.  Maybe they just needed a day to rest from the fun we had this weekend.  That's what I'm hoping, at least!  Did I share what we did this weekend?  We went to a local college basketball game.  It was a lot of fun!  The kids and I didn't see much of the game (we played out where they had other things set up), but we still had a good time.

That's about all for me.  I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend and is off to a great work week!

Productive Day!

Today has been productive.  The kids and I have been going upstairs to do "chores" after breakfast each morning.  I find this works really well for us!  It's a lot easier to have a set time to go make our beds.  T has started sleeping on top of his covers so he doesn't have to do it the next morning.  Silly, smart boy!  He loves his new chore chart.  Getting those smily faces is a huge motivation for him.  I've been using my grown up version of a chore chart today, too.  I like crossing off too :)  So far today, I've made my bed, run and emptied the dish washer, a load of laundry (actually, it's in the dryer.  I still need to fold and put away...about 4 loads...), the diapers, and exercised.  All that's left is to wipe down my kitchen, sweep, clear the clutter (toys, mostly) and go to Awana at church tonight!

J and I have started encouraging each other to eat better and drink more water.  Throughout the day, we've sent texts sharing what we've had.  Knowing that he planned to keep me accountable has helped me not to snack as much as I usually do (although, I'm not that much of a snacker.  We only have so many gf snacks here).  I put a little section on my daily plan sheet for my cross off how many cups of water I've had during the day.  It's 3 pm and so far, I've had 5 cups.  Working on #6 now.  For exercise, my wonderful sister came over and did Pilates with me.  I didn't think it would be THAT challenging, but I was wrong.  My legs are still burning!  My abs are already feeling tight too. 

L seems to be coming down with something.  His little voice is hoarse.  Poor guy!  He's been coughing, too.  Not much, but enough.  Last night he had a ton of congestion in his chest, and he's starting to feel warm.  He doesn't have a high fever or anything, but he's warmer than usual.  We just can't stay healthy for more than a week or two at a time.  This whole cold and flu stuff is really getting old!

Now that I've written about how productive I've been, it's time to get busy again.  But first, a little note from my Little L:

x ggggggggwegwe4ghwxc/'sssssssssss.        .

First run of the new year! First run in months...

It's been a while since I've last exercised.  Sure, I chase two little boys all day long and go for nice walks occasionally, but I haven't done anything to really get me moving in several months.  I've been thinking about running a lot lately.  It's not really something I enjoy, but I loved the way I felt last spring when I went often.  So I decided it was time to start that up again.  Not so easy since I HATE HATE HATE the cold!!!  We don't have to room (or finances...) to buy a treadmill, but thankfully my parents have one and they live close by!  I finally forced myself to take advantage of it!  I took the boys over there for lunch, then let them nap there.  T does fine with that, but L struggles sleeping anywhere other than his crib.  He's like his daddy and needs his routine.  Anyway, after spending a long, long time trying to get the stinker down, he finally fell asleep.  That gave me enough time to walk for 5 minutes, run for 25, and then walk for another 5 minutes at the end before T woke up.  My goal was to run for 30, but I just couldn't do the last 5 minutes.  It's ok, though.  I'm still really proud of myself for running that long without stopping.  Especially since it's been so long.  My goal is to do that often.  I'm guessing my mom will start charging me for child care ;) but at least I will feel better...and hopefully lose some of this pudge going on in my tummy. 

Another exciting thing that happened today related to my goals for the year: I finished putting my home binder together!  Took some of the pages to get laminated and it's all set for tomorrow.  Yay!

Car Seat Safety!

It's Friday, but honestly, I've done very little for my fitness goals this week.  However, I would like to post something that's sort of related... Car seat safety tips.  Being safe is a part of staying healthy, right?  This is also one of my top pet peeves.  I absolutely cannot stand to see a baby not strapped into a car seat correctly!  So many people do tons of research to find the best car seat with the top safety, but then do not use it properly.  Guess what, all that money you just spent on the top car seat out there won't do you any good if you're not using it the way it correctly!!!  So, a few tips:
1. This should go without saying, but I have a seen people totally skip this... buckle your child in.  Those straps DO need to go over your baby's shoulders. 
2. The top buckle should be at baby's arm pits, not his belly button.  A baby can fly right through those two straps if the buckle is too low.  Keep it chest level!
3. You should only be able to fit two fingers between your child and the strap.  If you can fit more, it's too loose.
4. A child should NOT wear a coat in the car seat.  Wearing a coat requires you to loosen the seat belt.  If you were in an accident, the fluffy part of the coat would squish, making enough room for the child to fly out.  This is important.  Many, many people don't do this and it has been fatal.
5. As much of a pain as it is, it is safer for your child to remain rear facing for as long as possible.  His legs are long and you're worried about him breaking his legs in an accident?  Better his legs than his neck.  Rear facing is safest!
6. The base of your car seat should not wiggle more than an inch.
7. Get your car seat inspected.  Here, the firemen do it.  I've read several statistics that say 80% of car seats are installed incorrectly.  The fireman who inspected mine said he thought that statistic was off...he thought MORE than 80% were installed incorrectly. 

Again, this is your child's life you're protecting.  You must use the car seat correctly if you want it to work the way it's designed.  YOU must be the one to protect your precious children.  Even if you are the best driver in the world, there are crazy, stupid people out there.  Your child relies on you 100%. 

Friday's Looking Good: Walking

As I mentioned yesterday, I have started walking with my neighbor.  This past week wasn't great because it's been raining like crazy, but we faithfully went every single morning the week before that.  We're planning on doing it again next week.  A first I didn't think it'd be that much of a work out.  I was running three miles a few months ago, what's a little walk going to do?  I quickly learned that walking for an hour, up and down hills, with a double jogging strollers and two heavy boys is a LOT of hard work!  I am not sure if it's as good as my runs used to be, but it's definitely doing something!  I also enjoy the time to chat with my friend.  She's such a sweet momma and a good role model to me.  She loves the Lord and wants to raiser her children to be responsible, wise, and godly.  It's good for the kids, too.  I want them to see value in taking care of the bodies God gave them.  It's important to exercise and exercise can be fun!  If all kids are well  behaved and the weather is nice, we stop at a park and let them play.  All four of them love it.  The older two (Sweet T and her little girl L) go off and have some independent play where we can see them but they have some space too.  The younger two (Little L and her son, M) stay close to us and need our help to climb stairs and things.  It works out well.  The kids enjoy it and we enjoy it.  It's just a shame that the weather will be turning cold soon.  I'm so not looking forward to winter!!!  I really enjoy these warm summer days.  Not the hot ones, but the ones where you can go out and play without feeling nasty afterward.

As far as dressing up and looking nice, well, I haven't been doing the best job at that.  I'm sitting here in a nursing cami (IE, sooo unattractive!) and pj pants.  I may not look attractive, but I sure am comfortable :)  Have a wonderful Friday, everyone!  STAY DRY!  :)

Friday's Looking Good: Even better than last week!

After writing last week's Friday blog, I decided to weigh myself on our Wii Fit.  It's the only scale we have in our house, ha!  According to the Wii, I am... DOWN TO MY PRE-T WEIGHT!!!  Oh my goodness!  Oh my goodness!  Oh my goodness!!!  I am thrilled!!!  Seriously so excited!

On a not-so-good note, I have not been exercising or eating as well lately.  My wonderful sister and I have been traveling some and it's really thrown me off track.  We went to the OBX in the beginning of June, and then a couple weeks after coming home, we went to TN.  Both times, I had plans to run.  I even packed my running clothes and shoes!  I went twice while at the beach and not at all while in TN.  I ran a mile and thought I was going to die earlier this week!  Yesterday I was able to go a mile and a half, but that's it.  I run veeeerry slow too.  I hate it!  I was doing SO well but now I feel like I have to start all over.  And it's HOT.  So hot!  To make matters worse, I have been snacking on candy.  I can't eat cookies or cakes or things like that (unless I pay a lot of money for GF ones or spend the time to make them...), so I've moved on to candy.  It's been bad lately.  I need to start eating less sugary stuff and make sure to drink more water!!!  My plan for running and exercising is to start running with a friend.  She has run the Army 10 miler in the past and is much more athletic than I am!  I will be embarrassed for her to see how out of shape I am, but I know it will be encouraging to have someone to go with.  Hopefully that will motivate me to keep going and push myself!  She even volunteered to push the boys in the jogging stroller :)  I'm really excited!  At this point, I'm not trying to lose weight.  I am really happy at this size.  I just need to maintain this and change my focus on getting healthy.  I still want to work on the rest of my looks, but I'm so very excited to have reached this goal!  Yay!

Friday's Looking Good: OH YEAH! (July1)

I am not sure when I blogged last, so this may actually be old news to everyone. If that's the case, I'm still excited about it so I'm blogging again. If I haven't written about this yet, then YAY! Great news! I have reached my first goal!!! My first goal is to be down to my Pre-L weight (L is baby #2). I did it! I did it! Finally! Breastfeeding helped me lose the weight a lot. I also started running (remember I was training for a 5K?) and am continuing to exercise. In fact, I'm not training to run a 10 miler. I am trying to run three days a week, cross train twice a week, stretch (yoga maybe?) once a week, and then rest once a week. This is all new to me and already I'm having a hard time with it. Who has time to do all this training with two small boys? I have to do it, though. J said he would get me a dog if I can run 10 miles in an hour and 45 minutes! Do you know how long I've been begging him for a dog??? Years. I'm talking YEARS! I asked him long before we even got engaged :) He said yes back then. Funny how things change when you get married! Anyway, back to my improving looks. Ha! I feel vain just writing that! Anyway, I am also eating better now. There's only so many snacks you can eat while on a gluten free diet! Gone are the days where I'd by a pack of cookies or snack cakes every time I went grocery shopping. I don't even go down those isles anymore. Sure, the stores sell gf cookies too, but they're expensive and honestly, not very good. I like the taste of the homemade ones, but like I said earlier, who has the time with two small boys to chase around? I haven't been on a scale in a while, so I'm hoping that I'm getting closer to my Pre-T weight now too. I'm guessing it will still be a few more months, but it's nice to fit into some of my old clothes again.
The newest down side to my looks? Wrinkles. I have noticed more and more wrinkles around my eyes lately. I'm only 26. I should not have wrinkles like this! But growing up in CA, we were in the sun a lot! My mom always made us wear sun screen, but we are very fair skinned, have red hair, blue eyes and lots of freckles. We are the type of people who lather up in SPF 100, then get burned within two seconds of even *thinking* about going outside. Ha! Maybe it's not quite THAT bad, but I'm pretty sure it's close... I am destined to be a very wrinkly old lady, I was just hoping to wait until I'm old before getting so wrinkly, lol.

Craiglist, running, and crock pot disaster!

I know this is kind of different from my usualy daily theme, but I figured at this point, any post is better than no post :) I've had a pretty exciting day and wanted to blog about it so here I am!

Craigslist: I have recently started looking at craigslist for a few things. Ok, actually I've been looking for these specific things for a while now but never actually bought anything. Call me paranoid, but I've always been a little afraid of going to some stranger's house, giving them money, and then hoping they give me what I came to get instead of taking advantage of me or killing me. But we needed a jogging stroller and they are super expensive new. I decided that J is a big guy and can take care of himself, so if I found one I loved at a good price, I'd go for it. After months of casually looking, and a month or so of searching obsessively (kind of joking...), I found one I wanted to buy. J picked it up yesterday and we've already gone on a walk and a run with the boys in it. I have to admit, I'm in love. I didn't think I would ever end up with a side by side doublt stroller (too difficult to navigate through narrow mall stores...), but this stroller is amazing! It is so light and moves so easily! The boys seem to like it too. Anyway, after buying the awesome stroller, I decided to go ahead and try to get some diapers too. For anyone wondering, I cloth diaper. I love it but have had problems with the brand I was using (gave my Sweet T bruises along his spine). I've slowly been trying different brands and trying to find something that works better for our family. I have three top brands, one for the length, one for the cute prints (and yes, it actually does fit my boys well too), and one that is good all around but not at the very top of my list. My third favorite, the one that is good all around, was listed for $6 a piece!!! And she had 15 of them!!! The first brand listed above sells for about $20 each, the second brand for about $18, and this brand is usually around $12. Is that not amazing? Half price!!! And to make this deal even better (yes, it's possible!) The diapers are BRAND SPANKIN NEW! And the seller lives about 10 minutes from my house! I am so excited about this deal! I can offically stop using the bruisers (haha) and use diapers that I feel confindent in. I almost didn't buy them because I have grown to LOVE LOVE LOVE the fun prints! My little L has a diaper with monkeys on it even! And there are so many cute prints I've been eyeing. But God has been working on my heart. He has used even this situation to show my how prideful and un-content (my blog, I can make up words!) I am. Why do I feel like I should buy expensive diapers just because they have monkeys on them when I can get them for a third of the price plain??? Anyway, I listened and learned (or, rather, am learning) and now have tons of diapers for my boys.

Running: As I mentioned in the craigslist section, we bought a jogging stroller! Why did we buy a jogging stroller? Because I've started running! Yes, it's true, the girl who hates running is running. For the first time in my life, I ran an entire mile without stopping! Yahoo!!! I'm so excited! My goal is to be able to run 5K by June 4th, because I am signed up for my first race that day! Shocked? I don't blame you! But I'm really excited about it. J loves to run and has always wished I could go with him. Plus, you don't see many fat runners out there, do you? I really hope this helps me shed the last of my baby weight. I did something stupid while running the other day, it was quite funny! J and I were jogging together while my sister watched the boys. I like to talk while I run to keep my mind off of how terrible I feel, so I was busy talking away. Next thing I know, I'm running into the gaurd rail!!! Ha! Yep, I was THAT girl.

Crock Pot: Ok, baby L is crying for mommy. Kiddo is ready to eat. So, until next time, you'll have to be happy with those first two topics :)

Friday's looking good! 4/1

My hair is finally at a nice length! I need to stop cutting it so short because I really don't like it. But, finally! It's to my shoulders and I like it :) I also was able to switch from the Extreme shampoo and conditioner to the regular one. Maybe my hair is finally adjusting to regular hormones instead of crazy pregnant and postpartum ones? This was a much needed change and I think my hair is thankful for it :) I'm also getting closer to my pre-L weight. About 5 pounds to go, 10 to be pre-T! I hope to be skinny again before bathing suit season. I really want to get out there and start running to help with my goals, but it's just so stinkin cold! J and I are officially over our "no sugary drink" bet. I'm hoping to keep away from that junk overall, but I'm excited to enjoy a soda here or there again. I'm going to try to cut back on snacks too. It's all about moderation, so I'm not cutting them out completely. I love my snacks too much to do that! But I need to limit how often, and what type of snacks I eat. So, anyone have suggestions on healthy, yummy, sweet snacks???

Friday's Looking Good: Baby Bum edition!

Ha ha! Yep, that's right! This post is about how cute my kids bums look... in their new HOME MADE cloth diapers!!!! This was my Friday project and I'm so excited about it, plus I can only talk about my looks so much. I somehow convinced my mom to help me sew (and by help, I mean she had to do 90% of the work because I can't sew) a fitted cloth diaper and a cover. I cannot tell you enough how adorable they turned out! They are far from perfect, but soooo cute! And now we know how to do them and what to change, so they will look professional next time (Ha! Mom, ready for the next one??? You know you want to...) We started with a Large cover because it said 18-36 pounds. It definitely was not the correct size for Little L. It fits T, and almost fits me (LOL!!!). It's seriously huge. We used PUL and this pattern http://www.chloetoesboutique.com/full_cover.pdf. Here's a bunny we borrowed from my sister's room to model:


After we finished the cover, I made a fitted diaper following this pattern: http://handmadebyrita.blogspot.com/2007/10/classic-rrp-ritas-rump-pocket-pattern.html
It was super easy! I actually did most of the work!!! My mom of course helped me with the hard parts, but I'm proud to say that I actually did one :) We used Batman material (flannel I think?) for the outside, and then terry cloth on the inside. CUTE! I'll edit this post with a picture once I get one. Unfortanately I don't have any baby safety pins, snappis, or snaps for this diaper, so I can't use it yet :( Oh well, I will figure something out soon because I cannot wait to try it out!

Friday's Looking Good: Doing ok.

Another late blog. Ha! Oh well, I guess at this point, no one is surprised :) Anyway, back to becoming beautiful... A couple weeks ago, I felt very insecure about my looks, then the following week I felt a lot better. Now I'm just kind of in the middle, and I kinda like it here! When I feel decent, I don't obsess over it. I haven't stepped on a scale lately, but I'm guessing I've lost at least a pound or two because my tight pants now fit me well. And my bigger pants are a little too big. Yay! That's a GOOD problem to have. But I still don't fit into my pre pregnancy clothes. I am also really happy with the length of my hair right now. Every couple of years, I get tired of my hair and have it all cut off (to about my chin). That look just doesn't look good on me. I don't know why I do it, and I regret it every time. Hopefully I'll remember that next time I get tired of my longer hair. My hair is now about shoulder level and I like it! I wish I could pull off really long hair again, but I just don't think it would work on me now. But this level is good. I look like a grown up but not too old. I can wear it down and it looks fine, but if I don't like it on my neck, I can pull it back. The boys and I are all ready for spring time! We are all excited to get outside and PLAY! Sweet T can get energy out, and J and I can get some exercise, which we are definitely missing. We LOVE family walks in the evenings! It's one of the things we miss most in the winter. We also want to get a double jogging stroller and start running. Hubs is trying to convince me to do a half marathon with him... I think he's crazy :) I'm also looking forward to my skin looking healthier. I am so dry right now! I hate it.

Even though I'm feeling content with how I look, I need to try a little harder... Especially when I'm out in public! It's not usually a good idea to wear pants covered in chocolate cake batter to gymnastics like I did this morning........ ;)

Friday's Looking Good: Feeling better

I'm about two days late on this blog, but that's ok. The kids (especially my extremely active two year old...) have kept me busy! Sweet T has so much energy built up from being in side for so long, but that's a different post. I'll save that for tomorrow and write about what I came here to write about, my looks.
Last week I wrote about how discouraged I was and how unattractive I feel. I was having a rough day to say the least. I think this nasty weather affects me just as much as my two year old and I'm dealing with a little bit of the "winter blues." Anyway, this past week I had a doctor's appointment and of course they had to weigh me. I was not looking forward to stepping on that scale as I've had a hard time losing this baby weight. I was about 120 before getting pregnant with Little L and I have not been able to get below 130 since then. He's 5 months old and I just can't shed these last 10 pounds (I actually want to get to my pre-Sweet T weight, which is 115)! So the nurse starts messing with the scale and finally lands on... 128.5!!!!! Yahoo!!!!! I know it's only a pound and a half, but finally, FINALLY, I'm below 130! Maybe someday, I will reach my goal afterall.

And I was out of my PJ's everyday except for one ;) Lol...

Friday looks good: discouraged.

Growing up, I had a lot of people comment on my looks. An agent approached my mom once in a restaurant, strangers commented on my beautiful red hair, people would whistle at me as they drove past, a store owner in San Diego swore I'd be on TV someday (and I'm positive he thinks Lindsay Lohan is me, because she starred in Parent Trap soon after that day and we looked very similar). It happened often enough that it didn't catch me by surprise. I was always in some type of dance (or gymnastics, ice skating). I was even the captain of the Cheer leading squad in early high school. I got a lot of my self confidence from my looks. I may not be smart, but I was pretty. As I started getting older, people stopped commenting as often. In fact, people even started commenting on my sister's looks instead of mine (I'll never forget the first time it happened... on the train traveling to CA. 11th grade). I started losing a lot of my confidence and even started feeling a little insecure. By the time I entered college, I wore huge tee shirts in the summer and baggy sweatshirts in the winter. I always threw my hair back into a pony tail and just tried to blend in, not be noticed. Most of my tee shirts were those free ones you get from special events and my sweatshirts were all picked out by my dad (Yikes!) A couple years ago, friends started commenting on my wardrobe and I finally realized that it was time to change. I have to admit, I hate that I have to TRY to look pretty now. It's very humbling for me. I want to wake up and be naturally beautiful again. But that time in my life has past. When I see pictures of myself, I'm very unhappy with what I see. Even my face looks different now. Just older I guess. Today especially, I'm feeling very glum (ha ha, can you tell we watch/read a lot of Thomas the tank engine?). I guess it's time to learn how to style my hair and put on make up :-/

I guess I should also focus more on this:
1 Peter 3:3-4
3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

Another late post: Friday :)

So I am really falling behind on these blog entries. Oh well, I guess that happens sometimes when life gets busy. So my attempt to look nicer was a huge fail this past week. I've been trying to stay home more because it's too cold and I always seem to spend money when I leave the house. What's the point in dressing up to stay home? Plus, I still haven't figured out the best time to take a shower. I hate showering at night, there's no way I'm waking up before the babies, I want to nap when they nap together (yeah, like that happens ;)), and I do NOT trust sweet T alone with little L... or alone at all for that matter. I need to work on it though. My goal for this week? To be out of my pj's before J gets home at least 4 days. Ha, yep, that's my only goal. And I'm not even sure I'll reach that... ;)

Friday's Looking Good!

As a SAHM, it's hard to find the motivation to get up and get "ready" for the day. As soon as I'm up, I'm rushing Sweet T to the potty, getting Little L his medicine (for reflux), and putting on my chef's hat for our breakfast. Mornings are chaotic from the start. If I brush my teeth before nap time (at 1...), I consider it a good day in regards to my look ;) It's sad, but true. Not to mention, finding something decent to wear is depressing! Little L is four months old and I'm still in maternity clothes. I love my maternity clothes, but only when I have an adorable belly to show off. This left over nastiness is just, well, nasty. It seems silly to waste money on clothes that fit me now because I'm (hopefully) going to lose this darn, stubborn weight some time in the near future. It's affecting my self esteem though, and I'm sure J would like to come home to the attractive (or at least put together) wife he's used to. I'm not sure I'm ready to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe, but I decided to go ahead and buy a few things. Target had a sale on jeans, and I sadly bought two pair of the largest size that I've ever purchased. Ouch! It definitely hurt! But at least I can wear regular jeans again. Plus it's motivation to work a little harder to get back into my old stuff. I also bought a few shirts. They are so nice! And I'm thinking that I'll be able to wear them even as I slim down. I'm also trying to accessorize. It's a scary thing for me and I'm not very good at it, but I guess I gotta start somewhere. I got a pretty, simple pearl necklace for Christmas that I think fits me perfectly. I also got a couple pair of new shoes so that I wont wear my sneakers or beat up boots as often. Already I feel better about myself! And as for the weight, well I've cut out soda. J cut it out of his diet too. It's nice to do this together! I am also hoping that eating at home will help out a lot. A few areas I need to work on are sweets and portion sizes. Oh how I love my sweets! Cookies, candy, cake... I love it all! I used to have great self control and would eat my snacks slowly. One cookie here, a single piece of candy there. J has absolutely no self control and now I find myself eating as much as I can as fast as I can just so I can have some. We'll buy a package of Fudgees (mmm... my favorite) and it will be gone within a day or two. Sometimes I don't even want a cookie, but I want to make sure I get my fair share so I'll eat one anyway. It stinks! And I'm not sure how to change it! Plus, with nursing, I eat a LOT at meals. Pretty sure I can eat as much as my 6 foot 3 hubby. Ugh, it makes me sick thinking about how many calories I must be taking in. It's too cold to go outside for walks and exercise. Plus who has the energy? Not me, that's for sure! Anyway, that's where I am right now. This is where I'm starting. A year from now, I hope to be writing my blog posts looking all spiffy in my size 3 jeans (ok, a 5 or 7 will be good too :)) with perfect hair and a nice bowl of veggies sitting next to me to snack on. Ha! Ok, let's not go crazy. I'll still have my fudgees, just one instead of the whole bag...