this and that

::  I wanted to clarify on my calorie intake, so nobody freaks out on me (I'm not saying anyone was freaking out, but I realized I didn't fully explain).  Yes, breakfast is usually 235, lunch between 240-250, dinner between 450-550, adding up to somewhere between 925 and 1,035.  I also always have a dessert for AT LEAST 70 calories (sometimes as high as 180), plus a 90-120 calorie snack somewhere.  I never let my intake be lower than 1000 calories, and on the days I run, I will usually throw in another 100 or so somewhere.  As far as I know, I am not starving myself.  If anyone out there is an expert on the matter I'm always open to suggestions and opinions!

::  Itty bitty denim shorts.  Need I say more?

::  This morning I went for a run.  I was trucking along, with only a minute left in my last run.  I was feeling great and hauling butt.  Then bam.  I was eating pavement.  Yes, that makes the second time I've completely wiped out while running in like three weeks.  How am I that clumsy?  Ok really I am blaming it on the ridiculously uneven sidewalks around my neighborhood.  They are terrible.  So terrible that sometimes the stroller gets stuck.  So I guess I can't be that surprised that they trip me up if I'm not 100% paying attention to where my foot is going.  Thankfully no one saw me (I'm pretty sure anyway), and the phone survived yet again.  Ironically, the tuneband I ordered for my phone arrived in the mail today.  If only yesterday hadn't been a holiday...

::  Last week Ryann sat like this and watched the cars go by.  She is kind of silly.

I know her eyes are closed, I still found it kind of cute

::  Ok, I'm sure I've asked before but I am looking for book suggestions.  I just purchased  The Violets of March to read on our vacation, but I want to get a running list together of books I want to read.  I'm a hopeless romantic and love easy reads, but enjoy other stuff as well.  Recently (ok in the last two years) I've read tons of Jodi Piccoult books, Water For Elephants, The Guersney Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Time Traveler's Wife, and probably some others I can't remember.  Any suggestions?

::  These pictures just make me smile.  This kid has a whole lot of personality.

::  Ok, last random question for you.  As a reward for myself WHEN (not if) I reach my weight loss goal, I want to find my perfect jeans.  Nice jeans.  They don't have to be pricey, they don't have to be cheap, I just really want to find some denim that looks great on me.  Because 80% of the time I live in jeans.  It works for me.  Keep in mind I've got a whole lot of junk in the trunk, and a relatively small waist.  Has anyone out there (with a booty like mine!) found a pair of jeans you love?

::  Oh, by the way.  I need this.  Bad.

via

::  Opps.  I forgot I wanted to add these pictures too.  This is what Ryann did when Chris set her down in the grass the other day.  She was trying to keep her legs from touching it.

can you tell she is giving me her 'ornery eyes'?  :o)

thank you

Honestly, I can not thank all of you enough, those of you who have taken the time to cheer me on in the journey.  Every Monday I want to post another sob story, because let's face it, weight loss is FREAKING HARD.  But every time I want to quit, you all pick me back up.  Thank you so much for those of you who said I have inspired you to get moving.  Brenna, no joke, I nearly cried last week when I read your comment.  As much as this is about me, you reminded me how much it is about those around me as well.  Thank you thank you thank you.

In some sort of miraculous act of pity by God, I did not gain any weight over Chris's graduation weekend.  I was actually down another 4 ounces when I weighed myself Wednesday morning.  And today I am down another 1.8 pounds from that.  My current total is 23.2 pounds lost.  Even though the going seems slow, my weight is still going down.

Lately I feel like I'm at a bit of a plateau.  Obviously it isn't a complete standstill, but for as hard as I have been working, I feel like my weight loss numbers should be bigger.  (This is where Chris throws in, "Come on, you watch the Biggest Loser.  Even they have bad weeks and they work out all the time."  I know I know).  I think part of my problem might be that I'm not eating often enough, and that I really am eating the same things all the time.  I have a bad habit of eating very little throughout the majority of the day (a 235 calorie breakfast, a 240 calorie lunch) and then using the rest of my calories in the evening for dinner and dessert.  I have dessert every night.  I refuse to give that up.  :o) 

Anyway, so I am trying to combat that problem (not eating often enough).  It is tough, because no matter what I try to rearrange, dinner is generally somewhere in the 450-550 calorie range, so I don't feel I have any extra calories for snacks.  But this week I am going to try eating a small snack, to see if it makes any difference.  That and drinking more water.  I always say I will do that, but I generally slack off.  I find it very difficult to drink more than 32 ounces of water in a day!  I'm working on it.

This past week I also gave the 30 Day Shred video a try.  I really liked it.  Especially the part where it is only 20 minutes long.  It doesn't drag on, it is quick and to the point.  Personally I didn't find the level one workout all that difficult.  It absolutely makes me sore, my legs especially, but I was able to complete it without any trouble.  Six Week Six Pack is also getting easier for me.  I know I said that video wasn't too difficult, and no, it isn't impossible.  BUT, Jillian makes you spend forever in the freaking plank position.  This week though, I was actually able to do the side plank with leg lifts on both sides!  Huge success for me.

Even though I'd love to aim for another two pound loss this week, we are going on vacation.  I'm just going to cross my fingers that I don't gain anything.  Does anyone have any suggestions for staying healthy when you travel, especially in the food department?  Obviously instead of ordering something fried, get grilled, yadda yadda, but if you have any other tips you want to share please do so in the comment section!

Check out the other ladies linking up to McFatty Mondays over at Heir to Blair.  Have a great week!

fourteen months

Whoa.  Hold the phone.  You can't be serious.  My baby (toddler, eek!) CANNOT be fourteen months old.  Slow. Down. Time. Please.

Ryann is growing bigger, stronger, and smarter every freaking day.  Seriously, last week she walked under the refrigerator door no problem.  Today she nailed it with her forehead.  How the heck did that happen??  She can still squeeze in to some of her 12 month clothing (mostly Carters pants and onesies), but the majority is all size 12-18 months.  Her size 4 sandals are starting to squish her cute chubby little feet.  The pediped's 12-18 month size is perfect.  The size four diapers don't look like they are going anywhere any time soon.

Poor Ry is cutting all four molars right now.  Luckily one of them is just about completely in.  The kid has 12 teeth!  The eight front and center teeth plus the molars.  I'm pretty sure some of the canine teeth are working their way in as well, but it is hard to get a good look.  She is still best friends with Tylenol, ibuprofen and Orajel, but I'm hoping we will get a break from those soon.  When teething is behind us I feel like a HUGE weight will be lifted off of everyone's shoulders.  You can just tell she is uncomfortable most of the time, and there isn't really much else we can do :o(.

As of this week I think we are officially down to one nap.  It still isn't the best situation, but the two naps just weren't happening anymore.  Ry usually wakes up between 6:10 and 6:30, sleeps from 12:40 to 2:15, and is out for the night between 8 and 8:15.  Twice this week she napped for over two hours, and this morning she slept until 7:15, but that definitely isn't the norm.  I really hope she can lengthen one of her sleeping sessions, for everyone's sake.  She gets really tired before bedtime, but if I put her to bed any earlier, she just wakes up earlier.  I thought that was supposed to be the opposite... what gives?

Bedtime isn't quite as easy as it used to be anymore.  Ry used to love her baths SOOO much, but I know she has figured out that after bath time comes bedtime, and I think she would rather stay up and play until she passes out.  Thankfully she love love LOVES to brush her teeth, so we can lure her in to the bathroom that way, and once she is in the tub she is usually fine, but getting her in is becoming a struggle.  Speaking of a struggle, apparently changing diapers and clothes is pure torture.  I can't believe I am so mean!

Berries are still a favorite food in our household.  As are crackers, and really anything that I don't particularly want to feed her a ton of.  Like sweets.  Oh man, if her daddy is eating a cookie or something of that nature she is all over it.  I suppose she is my daughter.  Thankfully she is starting to be slightly more accepting of trying new foods.  Vegetables even!  Every time she tries something new or eats a vegetable that isn't completely hidden in something we have a party.  She loves all the attention so she keeps on going.  Most of the time anyway.  Dinner is still a bit of a struggle on that front... if it doesn't come from one of the little Gerber meals cups, or isn't a chicken nugget (or veggie tot) she doesn't want it.  Generally if it isn't a waffle for breakfast, she doesn't want that either.  Although peanut butter toast is sometimes acceptable.

Not surprisingly her vocabulary continues to grow like crazy.  Some words we've started hearing recently are push, on, wist (wrist), ah-kel (ankle), bid (bed), bel-bun (belly button, love this one!), piss-piss (princess, yes, it seriously sounds like piss piss when she says it), graph (giraffe), guck (truck), night-night, cookie and I'm sure a whole bunch more that I can't remember.  She says hi to people all the time.  When I start to put on my shoes and headphones in the morning before a run she tells me bye.  Ry does animals sounds for a dog, cat, sheep, cow, monkey, lion, duck, horse, owl and a frog.  For some reason she doens't like the sound I make for an elephant, so if I ask her what an elephant says, she tells me 'no'.  She also is pretty sensitive to even slightly loud noises, and tells me everything and everyone is wowd (loud).

Thanks to her daddy Ryann LOVES movies.  They frequently watch them on the happy (iPad) together.  Her favorites are definitely the Toy Story series.  She will come in the family room saying mooo-vie!  Woody!  I'm sure when daddy goes back to work she will have withdrawal or something, since I don't see the need to turn on the TV that much.

This little girl has definitely picked up speed in the mobility department.  I swear Chris and I are always following her around the house telling her to slow down.  And don't bother sitting down, she doesn't stay put anywhere for longer than a couple minutes.  She has also gotten much braver about testing out her climbing skills.  She tries to climb everything, and can now easily get in and out of her little pink chair.  Sometimes she will just stand up in it, with a mischievous grin on her face, waiting for you tell her to sit on her bop-pum (bottom).

Baby girl, for every moment that you drive me completely batty, there are 100 moments that I can't believe how lucky I am that you are mine.  No joke, I'm pretty sure I turn to your dad at least 20 times a day and say 'I love her!'  You truly are the light of my life.  Stop growing up so fast! 

week in iphone pics

I did this once or twice before, and then wasn't consistent with the pictures I was taking on the iphone, so I gave up.  BUT, this week I actually captured quite a bit of happenings, so I thought I'd go ahead and link up with Amy.

Monday  ::  After having a little pity party for myself, I skipped my run and went on a long paddle boat ride with the hubby instead.  Grammy, Ry and I took a trip to WalMart for a life jacket and some puzzles.  Ryann still hated swimming.  My mom helped me make belly bands for an invitation set.

Tuesday  ::  I did go for a run on Tuesday.  And when I was just about home I caught up with my mom and Ryann on a walk.  Ryann was just chillaxin'.  My mom taught me how to make an omelet (spinach and mushroom with egg whites!).  Printing printing printing envelopes.

Wednesday  ::  We spent time in the basement watching the weather, while tornadoes threatened all around us.  Thank goodness there were some toys down there.  Ryann got to try some lime sherbet, she was baffled by its deliciousness.  Crazy bath hair.  I enjoy a weight watchers chocolate raspberry bar.  Yum.

Thursday  ::  Love me some morning baby (even though I would love sleeping in too).  Post run, 5.5 miles.  BAM.  I apparently didn't learn the omelet making skills.  Not so much at all.  Ryann's current favorite face.  Left the house by myself and got my hair did.

Friday  ::  More morning baby loving on some books.  We did a little mall shopping, nobody freak, I bought shorts!  Ryann was for some reason, enthralled with putting her sippy in the cup holders.  A little trip to Target, my hip needs some Aleve!  Giving the 'bibit' a hug.  Grandma 'Nita stopped by, of course with some clothes for the wee one.  That kid never has anything to wear :o).  Testing out the headband that came with an outfit, I was amused (so cute!), she was not.

Our week in a nutshell.  Link up with your phone photos here!

dr. chris

Woot!  I can't believe my husband is officially a doctor.  Seriously.  It is a little strange.  And it totally weirds him out if you call him that.  :o)  So here is a big 'ol dump of photos from his graduation weekend.  It was a wee bit crazy but lots of fun.  So proud of my hubby!

A few photos from his party.  I have some delicious little dessert recipes that I need to share!

do you see the stink eye she is giving in this one?  :o)

An itty bitty blonde girl was trying to be the life of the party...

Chris's grandma found this adorable little patio chair at a garage sale for a quarter!

what?  no, I didn't try some of daddy's cupcake...

We actually spent a good chunk of time before Chris's hooding ceremony in the stairwell at the Lied Center.  There were tornadoes possibly heading our way, so the whole thing ended up starting a little late.  We did learn that night, that if Ryann is tired enough you can indeed transfer her from the car to her crib after she has been asleep without much of a fight.  Good to know!

she wasn't sure what to think about his hat.  so we got this look whenever he was wearing it.

getting his giant diploma!

Sunday morning we headed back to Lawrence to watch Christopher walk down the hill on KU's campus.  He had a pretty good time...

This my friends, is how doctors celebrate lots and lots of hours of studying and tests and schooling and...

Chris smelled like a bad frat party :o).  But he had a great time, and I'm pretty sure almost everyone was impressed with their champagne skills.  Keep in mind when I graduated they hadn't moved the med students to a little section of their own.  And being the unsuspecting person I am, was sitting right in front of them.  I too walked out of my KU graduation smelling like cheap champagne.

Congratulations Christopher.  I really couldn't be more proud of you.

embrace the camera

Apparently my plans for spending at least 40% of these warmer months by my parent's pool aren't good ones.  My child who loves baths, HATES the swimming pool.  She seriously tries to climb as high as she can on you, and oh man, if you even think of detaching her legs from around your body.  Torture.  Pure torture.  I really hope she warms up to it.  I LOVE hanging out by the pool.

it was really bright, no matter which way we turned.

and don't worry, she was slathered in sunscreen, and we were outside less than 30 minutes.

Seriously, how cute is her little swimsuit (from The Children's Place)?  I knew we had to have some practical swimsuits (meaning, some that actually cover her precious pasty white skin), so I am very thankful for adorable little rashguards.

We um, forgot to bring a swim diaper.  Regular diapers fill up fast!  She definitely had some junk in the trunk :o).

We are headed to my parent's vacation home in Georgia soon, and I hear there is a zero entry pool nearby.  I'm crossing my fingers that if she can walk in to it on her own time, maybe she'll like the pool.  Seriously.  She has to!

a day in the life - emily

My Wednesday started a little too early this morning.  Seriously, doesn't my child know that it is sort of rude to wake people up before 6am?  Geez.  Will she ever turn in to a sleeper?  Anyway, that is beside the point.  Today I hope you enjoy a peek at Emily's life!  You can catch more of Emily on her blog.

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Hi, I’m Emily! My husband Justin and I, and our 15-month-old little lady Tressie, live on my family’s four-generation cattle ranch in eastern Colorado in the little town of Wild Horse. We are part of the day-to-day operations of the ranch and also own our own small cow/calf herd, but Justin and I also both work full-time jobs in town.


I want to give a big thank you to Ashley for inviting me to share a day in our life with you. If you find our typical Thursday intriguing, check us out at Toddling with Tressie and Trailerhood Aristocrats.

5:00 a.m. – Beep...beep…beep. I’d like to tell you that I jump out of bed eager to face the day, but the reality is I drag myself out of bed and in between yawns I pull on my yoga pants and tennis shoes and head to the gym…my living room. Right now my personal trainer is Jillian and I’m tackling the 30 Day Shred. I don’t particularly love getting up at this hour to exercise, but if it’s going to happen, now is the time.

After my quick work-out, I check e-mail, facebook and blogger and then shower and get myself ready for the day. Once I’m ready, I get everyone’s breakfast around and lunches packed.


6:50 a.m. – We are very blessed that my parents live just down the hill from us and watch Tressie during the day while Justin and I go to work. Tressie is not a morning person, (yes, this means I do get to sleep in on the weekends!) so every morning I have to wake her up. She looks up at me through sleepy eyes and growls at me as I change her diaper.


7:00 a.m. – We drop her off at Grandma’s, still in her pjs, and we head to work. I mentioned that Justin and I both work full-time jobs in town…town is 55 miles away. I use this time to eat my breakfast and on many mornings, I catch a few more zzzz’s as Justin drives us to work.

While we’re headed to work, Tressie drinks her morning bottle. (She still gets a bottle in the morning and I’m really not quite sure why…she likes her sippy cup just as well?.?.) Once she’s finished it, the still sleepy girl goes back down easily for my Mom and will usually sleep until 9:30-10:00 a.m.

8:00 a.m. – I arrive at work. I’m the Marketing Director for Farm Credit of Southern Colorado; we lend money to farmers and ranchers. I love my job! It allows me to be involved with an industry that is very near and dear to my heart, agriculture, and use my talents in marketing and public relations. After I catch up with the girls in the office, they love to hear the latest Tressie story, I go through e-mails and voicemails and then dive into my latest project. We’re in the beginning stages of a website re-design, so work is very busy and exciting lately!

10:00 a.m. – Tressie is waking up and enjoying her breakfast of oatmeal and fruit, while watching her favorite show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.


After breakfast, Tressie plays. Some of her favorite toys right now are her cell phones, Little People, baby dolls and her plastic eggs from Easter!

12:30 p.m. – It’s lunch time; we’re half way through the day! Since Justin and I both work in the same small town, some days we meet for lunch, but we have a trip to Florida planned in September, so trying to shed a few pounds means a turkey sandwich, Baked Lays and an apple for me. I spend my lunch hour visiting with co-workers and catching up on my latest read.

About this time back on the ranch, Tressie’s Grandpa is coming in for lunch. Tressie loves her Grandpa! After lunch, Tressie and Grandma head outside to go for a wagon ride. T loves to be outside. We gave her this wagon for Christmas and it's been one of our best purchases yet. The little lady is a busy body, but she actually loves to ride in her wagon!



3:00 p.m. – I’m beginning to get anxious for the end of the day (and reaching for a Diet Coke to help me get there) and Tressie is going down for her afternoon nap.

5:00 p.m. – Tressie is up from her nap and enjoying her favorite snack, yogurt. My Dad rides his horse by the house to tell my Mom he is headed out to the pasture to check cows. Tressie sees Grandpa and Moe, and begs for a quick ride on Moe.



Justin and I have made it through another day of work and are on the road again. On the ride home, I check facebook and visit with Justin about his day.

When Grandpa gets in from checking cows, Tressie gets to see a new baby calf!


6:00 p.m. – My favorite time of the day, our little lady eagerly greets us at the front door! Two or three nights a week my Mom invites us to stay for dinner. Tonight we’re having pork tenderloin with them. (Have you caught on to the fact that I’m able to be a working Mama and commute 2 hours each day because of my Mom!) Tressie loves food and eats whatever we’re eating for lunch and dinner. She hasn’t turned anything down yet!

7:00 p.m. – Anxious to enjoy the nice evening, we head outside to play with our Goldens, Lucy and Lacy. They love Tressie and she loves them!



7:45 p.m. – We head in for bath-time and to wind down for the evening. Tressie loves her baths, it’s getting out of them and putting her pjs on that she doesn’t love so much! We have a pretty laid back evening routine (and I use the word routine loosely!). Tressie’s mood dictates her bedtime. Most nights she likes to stay up late and hang out with us. That is fine with us, it gives us a chance to spend time with our little lady. Tonight she starts getting fussy around 9:00 p.m., so I pick her up and we head back to her room, she’s protesting all the way. I lay her down and after 17 seconds of crying, she’s out for the night. We have a rock star in the sleeping department; she sleeps all night, almost every night!

9:10 p.m. – Between several loads of laundry, Justin and I catch up on our DVR recordings, tonight it’s the season finale of Grey’s and an episode of Body of Truth. I have an apron that I need to make for part of a shower gift, so I work on cutting it out while we watch TV.


10:45 p.m. – I check e-mail, facebook and blogger one last time before heading to bed.

11:00 p.m. – I’m asleep within 30 seconds of crawling into bed!

Questions:
What is the most surprising thing about being a mom?
How naturally everything came. I had never really spent much time around babies (especially newborns), so I was nervous about knowing what little Tressie would need, but like every one told me it would, my Mama instincts kicked in, so between that and help from my Mom, we were just fine!

What are some tips or advice you would give to new or soon-to-be mamas?
Do what works for you and your baby. For some, that’s a firm schedule, for us, it’s going with the flow. We’re on the road lots, especially in the summer, to and from ranch rodeos and county fairs, etc. So when Tressie was a baby, when she cried and was hungry, we fed her, when she got fussy and sleepy, we put her down for a nap. Today, we have a very flexible toddler who goes great!

What are your top three baby products?
HALO Sleepsacks
Tressie quickly grew out of liking to be swaddled. I still wanted her to be warm at night, but didn’t feel comfortable giving her a blanket, so she’s been wearing a sleepsack to bed since she was itty bitty.

Fisher-Price SpaceSaver High Chair
We have a nice Chico high chair that we keep at my Mom and Dad’s, because let’s face it, Tressie probably eats more meals there. But we obviously needed a high chair for our house too, so we ordered the SpaceSaver, and I love it! It’s easy to transport, so it always goes with us when we’re headed to someone’s house for dinner. It makes being dinner guests so much more relaxing!

Joovy Playard
This playpen is awesome…it is HUGE! We don’t use it much, but when I need to do something and need to confine the little lady for a few minutes, she actually doesn’t mind spending some time in this.

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Thank you, Emily, for sharing your day with us!