Namaste...

At the beginning of the year I decided that I was on a mission to lose my last 10 lbs. of baby weight. Originally I started doing this with a clear intention of losing weight. I started doing different workouts....anything from the treadmill to cardio programs. Then one day I decided to try a yoga program from Comcast.

I was a little nervous because I didn't really feel all the flexible and I thought I might find it boring. I played soccer in high school, did some running for a while, basically I have always liked high energy workouts. I had a preconcieved notion that yoga was all about "ommming" and chanting and twisting into a pretzel. Both of which I assumed I could not do.

I in no way was able to do the poses as the instructor did but I was thrilled that I was able to do any of it. I felt more relaxed and ready to face the day. At that time I was getting up at 6 am and trying to squeeze in about 20-30 minutes. The first couple of weeks I was still going back and forth between some cardio, the treadmill, and throwing in some yoga, and maybe some pilates.

As the weeks went by I found myself not caring so much about whether or not the weight went away, I was estactic that I was becoming more flexible and was actually able to do some of the poses....and the breathing was helping me get "me" grounded. I found myself becoming a little more relaxed during the day....of course my 2 year old STILL knows how to push my worst buttons, but I came to the realization that is why yoga is called a practice. I have to keep working at it.

I have primarily been doing yoga as my only workouts these days. I now get up at 5 am and try to do at least a few minutes of meditation each morning...sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. There are some mornings where I am so frustrated that I just can't have quiet time but other days I find myself just being happy. Last night I was reading an article in my new Yoga Journal Magazine and read something that really inspired me....

Yoga Sutra I.36
There is always a light within us that is free from all sorrow and grief, no matter how much we may be experiencing suffering.

Reading that truly brings joy into my heart. To know that there is always a beacon of light inside of me that can overcome any darkness make me happy. It may be hard to remind myself that that little spark is there (especially when Max is pushing those buttons) but as long as I continue to breath and practice I know it will become brighter and brighter each day. Namaste.

My Love of Ice Cream....

In a previous post I mentioned that I was giving up Ice Cream for Lent...ugh. It's only been a week and I am having major withdrawals.

My love of ice cream started while I was pregnant with Max. I used to buy a couple of gallons of ice cream a week and between Karl and I it would disapear. Even after I had Max the cravings were still there....and right on into my pregnancy with Emma. AND after she was born I still wanted it almost every night.

I have not given anything up for Lent in so long, I really can't even remember what the last thing was that I gave up. But I decided that this year I wanted to commit to something. I knew that I could not give up coffee or chocolate but still wanted to give up something that I really habitually had. So I decided that ice cream was the best choice.

IT"S KILLING ME!!! I went to the grocery store yesterday and our fave brand of ice cream was on SALE....I almost caved. BUT I stayed strong and just walked right on past. Hurry up Easter!

On a side note what happended to the spell check on my tool bar for new posts???

Not quite what I had in mind....

This last night has been an interesting one. Let me preface it by saying that I am sitting on the bathroom floor with Karl's laptop drinking my coffee.....here is the why.

Max is still nursing his cold. It has now traveled from his nose to his chest and he is coughing, which I hope means that it is on it's way out the door because I am over him being sick. It's really starting to affect my social life.

Emma for didn't wake up for her 3 am feeding, which normally would be fantastic but she work up at 5:30 am and was all about eating then as well as playing and cooing/talking.

My mom and step-dad are staying in our in-laws 5th wheel camper (we keep it here over the winter so they don't have to pay for it on their camping site down here), we call his Nana and Papa's winter vacation home. Well the propane tank ran out about 3 am this morning, which means they no longer had heat. Papa Jim was all snuggled up with Izzaboo (their black lap and Magoo's sister) which meant that Nana no longer had any room in the bed. So she came in the house and is sleeping on the couch.

Since all of the hullabaloo I was not able to get my work out in, hoping to squeeze some time in later today. I truly embraced "fat tuesday" yesterday. On a side note I am giving up ice cream for Lent....that is a whole 'nother story. :)

So here I sit in the bathrooom, now with my annoying fat cat....drinking my coffee and listening to her purr. I guess it could be worse, she could puke on me. :)

WHAT THE F.....

I apologize in advance for using an almost "F" bomb but I am that frustrated.

I have been working out CONSISTENTLY  almost every day. In the last 4 weeks I have only missed 5 days of working out. I am doing 20-30 minutes every day, and not just putzing around. I am doing the treadmill and really breaking a sweat, doing yoga that is REALLY making me sweat (because of how inflexible I am), and pilates, and cardio, etc.....

Have I lost a pound....yes I lost 1 and then put on two....AGAIN WHAT THE F!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I know that losing weight takes time but really. I had a goal of losing 10 pounds, which would put me at my ideal weight....which is what I weighed when Karl and I first started dating....WAY back in 2002. Of course I was running 3-5 miles a day then and lifting weights all the time. PLUS I was not cooking nice yummy delish meals each night. Living on PB & J's and cereal was gourmet for me.

I guess I should consider my age but really, do I want to do that....ummmmm no. It was bad enough my doctor told me I would be considered "maternal age of delivery" since I was going to be 35 when I delivered Emma....wow I just made myself feel even worse. Now I just feel fat and old. WHAT THE F!

Ummmm.....ewwww.....

For the last two weeks I have been trying to get my house "clean" and keept it "clean"....when I say "clean" I mean more than just surface cleaning. As I posted before I got a tip from a friend about this awesome site, Fly Lady, and I have been following the suggested zones for each week. Along with the zone cleaning she suggests she also throws in "challanges"....kind of deep cleaning but not all at once. Which is great for me because I am prone to start projects and never finish them.

Anyhue the challange for yesterday was to clean your garbage can. REALLY CLEAN IT....like take the bag out, wipe it all down - inside and out. I have to say I was somewhat disgusted with myself for ever letting my trash can get that nasty. I always wipe the lid and outside but have never really got into the nitty gritty of the inside. BLECH.....but I am happy to say that it's finished and it all sparkly clean, like NEW, yes that clean!

In case anyone was wondering, today's mission is to clean your kitchen countertops....using some soapy water and rags/or something of your choice, moving all our stuff out of the way and wiping everything down. Happy Cleaning!

Too cute....

I found this great blog page that I have been keeping tabs on called The Rubber Punkin and she is doing this awesome giveway for a very cute bathing suit. It's very retro but modern at the same time....part of the rules of the giveaway is that you must pick which suit you like best (there are 4 of them) AND you must post something on your own personal blog/website....so here it is.

Check it out....if not for the giveaway but for the great craft ideas she has!

Ding, Dong The Nuk Is Dead!

About a month ago Karl and I decided that we were going to get rid of Max's pacifier, which we call The Nuk.  Partly because Max was becoming awfully clingy and we were getting tired of the constand battle of him wanting it ALL the time.

So I started doing some research and found this site called "Bye Bye Binky". It was all about getting them to WANT to get rid of it on their own. It gave you a 7 day schedule on how to get rid of it. You started how poking pin holes in it, then after a few days you cut the very tip off, then each day after that you cut a little more off. What WAS supposed to happen is they would realize that it was no longer pleasurable for them and they would no longer want it.

Yeah.....nice in theory not so good in actuality. We followed all the steps and that Nuk went through hell....Karl just kept cutting and cutting and cutting. There was literally nothing left of the silicone, NOTHING my friends and that kid still wanted it. When we would read books to him before bed he would just sit and hold it in his mouth, then he would just hold it. In the last few weeks he would just sleep with it in his hands. It was almost pitiful...there was a tiny sliver of me that felt bad for him and almost caved and gave him a new one. Then I woke up and realized the horrible tantrums he would throw when we wouldn't give it to him.

This morning Karl came up with the great idea of breaking the handle part of and just laid it on the ground where we were playing and left it there for Max to find. Which of course he did. As he picked up he said, "oh no....is broken?". Karl and I both said that yes it was in fact broken, as we tried to suppress giggles we sat and watched our poor son try and put it back together. Finally Karl said that it was broke and that we should throw it away.....we sat with bated breaths.

Max looked at us, looked at the Nuk.....back at us, back at the Nuk.....then he walked over to the trash and tossed it in. Have not heard a PEEP out of him all day about it. NOT ONCE!!!! Beautiful. :)

The other bonus, we found conversion bed rails for his crib and we decided to bring the full size mattress up since we didn't have anything else to do and that kid took a nap with no crying, no banging on the door AND we put him down for the night and again no crying, no banging on the door.  Hallelujah!

Getting it together....

A few posts ago I was asking how people kept their houses clean and what things they did to keep it that way and a good friend suggested this AWESOME website to gave GLORIOUS ideas about how to clean your house and KEEP it that way.

The site is called http://www.flylady.net/ and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! It's all about cleaning your house in zones and doing 15 minutes of decluttering each morning, as well suggestions on deep cleaning. I have been doing it now for the last few days and it is wonderful. I don't have that CHAOS feeling (she calls it CAN'T HAVE ANYONE OVER SYNDROME) anymore.
Obviously with two kids there are still toys around and because my husband is also a big kid he has items laying around as well. BUT my house is probably cleaner and more organized than it has been in a long time. One of the great things about this site is that you don't have to clean your house all day long EVERY day...it's all about babysteps and taking a little bit at one time. That really eliminated the overwhelming feeling I would get every time I wanted to clean. I never knew where to start so most of the time I just didn't. Now I feel empowered to do just a little bit and be OK with it.

For anyone out there that is "cleaning" challanged like me I truly suggest you check out this site! Thanks so much Val for sharing the info....I truly appreciate it!

A Challange For You....

I want to do the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Cure Walk. It is taking place this coming October in Philly, PA.....I would LOVE to get a team together and raise the money to do this. The minimum for the walk is $2,300 and I realize it's a lot but for such a worthy cause! If you are interested in joining me for this AMAZING goal please let me know......I would like to start raising money ASAP!