And She's Four

"I'm not a baby anymore." - that's what Maisyn told me when I commented that my baby turned 4 today.  And she's right...for the most part. I mean obviously she still acts like a baby when she doesn't get her way, but don't we all?  😉 Look at the adorable school picture that was in my inbox this morning.  Lifetouch must be working with Shutterfly because they gave me this digital copy just because I signed into my Shutterfly account.  And it's my favorite!

Our elf, Snickerdoodle, had a message for Maisyn right away this morning.

To start her birthday, we had a couple errands to run. One of which was picking up her cake. After our errands, I made her a quick turkey sandwich, which she ate in the car on our way to visit her Great Aunt Sandy. Sandy just had surgery on her hand, which she broke on Thanksgiving Day so we thought we'd go cheer her up. After our visit, we headed home for the afternoon nap. Went to pick up the kids from school, did our after school routine.  Then headed out for Bode's hockey practice. Once practice was over, we finally were able to actually celebrate the birthday girl. She picked Space Aliens for her birthday dinner. The alien was actually there tonight so we were able to get a quick picture. 

After dinner, we headed home where my in-laws met us so they could celebrate with Maisyn too. We had cake & ice cream after opening her presents. All in all, she had a great day.  Simple, but great!

Happy 4th Birthday sweet girl. May all your wishes come true.

Life Lately

Like I said in my last post, it's been quite some time since I've been here.  Surprisingly though, not much has changed in our lives.  Hubby is still working in construction for their family business.  We're still living in our tiny house.  The biggest change is the kids growing so much. Talyn is now 12 and in 6th grade at middle school.  Kinley is 9 already and in 4th grade, while Bode is 7 and in 1st grade.  And the wee little baby girl, Maisyn, isn't a baby anymore.  She's turning 4 soon and is in preschool two days a week.

My biggest life change is that I'm jumping back on the "healthy" living bandwagon.  Twelve years ago, when my oldest was born, I stopped making myself a priority.  I put everybody else's needs before my own, especially the baby's. The more kids we added, the further down the priority list I went. For a couple years I did make myself a priority, lost almost 50 lbs that year and kept it off until I got pregnant with baby #3.  I'm pretty sure I gained that all back when pregnant with little man, but the awesome thing is I lost all but 10 lbs of it after him.  Somewhere between losing all that weight again and getting pregnant a couple years later, I gained most of it back again.  Fast forward to now and my goal is to lose 40 pounds before my birthday in May 2019.

I feel like I'm probably crazy because it's December and all the holiday baking is about to begin. However, I just can't wait until January.  I need to start now.  My sister and I were talking after Thanksgiving one day and decided to jump into a healthier lifestyle journey together, even though we're thousands of miles apart.  I called her at the end of November after I came to the realization that I'm turning 40 next year!  I'm turning 40 and am not at all where I'd like to be health wise.  Her 39th birthday is the day before mine so we think it's the perfect amount of time for us to both lose some weight.

So, from now until my 40th birthday, I'm using #40by40 to remind myself of my goals. Obviously, it's the holiday season so I'm not going to be overly strict, but I am going to try my damndest! I'm not doing anything crazy or restrictive, other than cutting back on sugar.  I'm going back to counting calories using MyFitnessPal and exercising 3 times a week minimum. Maybe once the festivities are over I will increase my exercise to 4 or 5 times a week. For now though, I'm sticking to 3 minimum.  My first week in and I'm already down 3 pounds, which is super motivating to me.

Comment below if you're up for joining us!

3 Years & 9 Months Later

I'm back! Wow, it's been a while huh, lol.  Well, I'm still here, surviving my chaotic life with four kids.  I've missed this space like crazy so my sister convinced me to get back to it. I actually planned on just starting over, but after getting an entire blog set up just the way I liked it, I sat there and stared at my blank screen, having no idea what to write. I changed my mind and came back here instead, to my old space, spruced it up, just a bit and am going to make an effort to blog here again. I'm so excited!

March Goals

Before I get onto my goals for March, I want to recap my February goals. 

My number one goal for February is to make exercise a daily habit.  I did really good here, up until the pelvic pain became so unbearable I ended up making a trip to my chiropractor.  I’d say the first 18 days were a success.  Either I used my treadmill or walked with my Leslie video, and took four rest days here and there.  After the visit to my chiropractor, I took a few more rest days and then tried again on my treadmill, only to have to pain come back almost instantly.  Out of the 28 days in February, I worked out 14, so half. 

My number two goal for February is to continue drinking 8-10 cups of water (64-80 oz).  I wasn’t very faithful in logging my daily water intake.  However, I do know that most days I got my minimum of 8 cups.  This is still something I struggle with, so most days to get my water in, I have to flavor it with Crystal Light.

My number three goal for February is to not eat after 8 p.m.  February trucked right along for me and I was feeling so awesome for doing so good not eating after 8.  Mr. Chaotic was so disappointed that I wouldn’t snack with him.  Then I’m not sure what happened.  My emotions get the best of me, Aunt Flo visits, and it’s like I just can’t get enough.  I truly need to get better control of my emotions as that would help tremendously in the mindless snacking department.

Overall, I felt like February was a success for me.  I could have made some better choices after 8 (like saying no to the pretzels that Mr. Chaotic was eating), but it is what it is.  I do know that once I get this pelvic pain figured out & taken care of I might actually be able to put my mind to this once & for all!  I was very surprised to learn that at the end of the month, I had lost 6.5 pounds! 

Moving onto my March goals – basically, I’m going to keep them the same, except the walking everyday part.  With the pelvic pain I just am not able to make the commitment.  I will still try my damnedest to get my eating back on track and to drink my water daily.  I’m also going to be making frequent trips to the chiropractor to get this pain taken care of.  As for the weight, well, my goal for March is to at least maintain my loss so far!  Carry on!

Valentine’s Day for School

A couple weeks ago, Talyn mentioned that for Valentine’s Day, she wanted to give Laffy Taffy (my favorite!).  I thought that was a super fun idea, so I scoured Pinterest looking for the perfect card to go with it.  I found it, however, there wasn’t a printable offered, so I made my own.  We printed and cut out the cards, then taped two Laffy Taffy’s to the inside of each card.  Here’s what we came up with:

For the teachers though, I found this pin, and thought it would make the perfect teacher gift.  I, surprisingly, had all of the supplies except the Mod Podge and the chocolates.  I couldn’t find any of the extreme glitter Mod Podge locally, just regular, so that’s what we used.  I just ran through the process twice.  I printed out the free printables and then added some pink ribbon around the jar lid for our own personal touch.  I love how they turned out. 

And look how glittery the jar is!  I might make one just for myself. 

Talk to me:

- Do you have a favorite Valentine’s candy?

- I would love to share my printable, however, I’m not exactly sure how to go about it.  Let me know if you’re interested and I will try to get it available for you!

TWO Months Old…Already!?

Miss Maisyn turned two months old lastTuesday.  I know they say time flies, but I think it’s going especially fast for me this time around because she is my last baby.  The stats from her doctor appointment last week are:

Head – 16 inches (97%!!)
Height – 23 inches (73%)
Weight – 11 lb, 5 oz (49%)

Big heads definitely run in the family as all of our kiddos have been in the 90th percentile or higher.  Her weight is a bit of a concern to me as she only gained two pounds since she was born.  Also at her other appointments, her weight has been in the 80+%.  I’m hoping it’s just because of her overly explosive poopy diapers due to formula changes & antibiotics.

I love that we have such a great schedule with her.  She is an amazing sleeper.  By amazing, I mean she sleeps through the night and has been for the past month.  Her last bottle of the day is between 11 p.m & midnight and she doesn’t wake up until I do in the morning. Most mornings I even have to wake her up by 7:30 to get her first bottle in.  With all the other kids I would just let them wake up by themselves.  That doesn’t work for us now, with the two older girls in school.  I don’t like making her wait until after the kids are dropped off at 8:30, so I wake her up – after grabbing myself a cup of coffee.  I’ve been very blessed with babies that love to sleep as they’ve all been good sleepers!

Maisyn is such an easy-going baby.  She tolerates her big brother’s incessant smothering of kisses.  Maisyn absolutely loves it when her big sister, Talyn, reads to her in the rocking chair – so much so that she usually falls asleep. She also truly adores the time she spends snuggling with big sister, Kinley.  I love that each of the older kids absolutely are so thrilled by their new baby sister.  All-in-all, she’s a very happy baby and seems to be pretty content with all of the chaos that goes on in our day-to-day lives.  She’s super smiley, becoming quite “talkative”.

Maisyn is wearing a size 1 diaper, though I did buy size 2 for when these are gone.  She’s still in size 0-3 month clothes.  The only thing we know that she for sure doesn’t like is her darn nuk.  She absolutely, positively hates it.  I hate that she wants to be a thumb sucker.  We are constantly replacing her thumb, finger, or fist in the mouth with a nuk, but she constantly spits it right back out.  It will be my luck that she isn’t going to like the thing until it’s time for me to take it away!

Talk to me:

Do/did you have a baby that was a great sleeper?

February Goals

My number one goal for February is to make exercise a daily habit.  I’m not talking hardcore working out right now, as I’m still experiencing slight pelvic pain.  However, I am capable of walking a minimum 20 minutes on my treadmill or using my Leslie Sansone Walking DVD.  I am also trying to add in some strength training.

My number two goal for February is to continue drinking 8-10 cups of water (64-80 oz).  I’ve noticed that as long as I get my walk in, I am able to get my water in as well.  I’m also including coffee, tea, and milk in my water count as well. 

My number three goal for February is to not eat after 8 p.m.  This one is so simple, yet such a struggle for me.  Nighttime snacking is my biggest enemy…definitely my unhealthiest habit. 

Your turn:

Tell me your number one goal for February.