Wait, what?

You know how the chairs you have to sit in at the dentist are all awkward in an I'm-not-sitting-but-I'm-not-laying-down sort of way? They're super flattering, right?

Well today as I'm laying there in the awkward chair feeling amazingly chubby the dental assistant tells me I have BIG TEETH.

Seriously, what exactly am I supposed to do with that information?

Fit Friday

Wooohoooo! Another 2 1/2 pounds down!

I did not get in as many "organized" workouts (like actual runs, or Ripped in 30 sessions) as I would have liked this week, but I ate super healthy and made sure that I was still pretty active so my calorie burn was up enough.

My younger brother is going to be home this weekend and we're having a big potluck-style b-b-q on Saturday and a big breakfast oh shoot! I'm supposed to be in charge of that! on Sunday which makes "dieting" challenging, but I'm going to power through and just make it a goal for the week to not gain weight.

Here's to another week!

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Total lost: 29 1/2 lbs.

Still to lose (to ultimate goal): 25 1/2

This little piggy...

Tomorrow morning we'll be the proud new owners of two little pigs (8 weeks old) because apparently we're that kind of crazy. (But also because little pigs grow up to be big pigs and big pigs taste good.)

Things are about to get REAL on this farm, you guys.

technology is for the birds.

Remember how I said that I suck at technology stuff? Well the layout and background of my blog proves that. I'munna (yes, this is one word in our house) fix it (maybe?) if I can. Eventually. For now you get to imagine it looking cool (like all the blogs I follow) and just be patient (pretty please)...k?

A gold star sticker at least?

You know how kids get rewarded with a sucker at the bank because the bank is so boring that even the bank knows it so they hand out candy to call it even with the littles? Well I'm pretty sure that after today I deserve something real nice too, because even though it was going to be a super busy day (like the kind of busy we pray over on our way to the car) and I had all my kids with me along for the ride (for which I  offered up a silent prayer of my own), we totally kicked today's a**. (And I'm only comparing my reward with kids' at the bank because I totally know how torturous going to the bank is and those suckers are well deserved.)

Here's a run down of the day:

We headed out of the house before noon which in and of itself is a major accomplishment. [ Note: Must get better at this before school starts on Tuesday. ] As soon as we got to town we went to three stores and did some quick returns (one of them being workout pants that got too big before I could even wear them - WIN!). Next we grabbed Subway for lunch (the dieting girl's best friend -  good thing my kids are forced to used to eating healthy) and nursed the baby in a parking lot while the kids ate their sandwiches in the backseat of the car classy is not lost on us, folks. After that we got the car washed, then went to get mine and Natalie's hair cut (Natalie and I's? Natalie and mine? Natalie and... oh seriously I give up - we both got hair cuts). After being in the salon for a good hour, I finally had a chance to grab sanity in a cup some coffee and felt mildly prepared to attack school supply shopping at Target followed immediately before the caffeine wore off by grocery shopping. Our last stop was Jeff's office to check in on the plan for the rest of the evening (I had realized halfway into town that my phone was dead), and then finally, for the love of Starbucks we headed home - smiling!

{Awkwardly holds out hands...}

So seriously, where's my medal?

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Oh my heart.

Since Jeff was the only responsible parent one who remembered to bring a camera on our little excursion last weekend (no, I don't have a phone that cool), I had to download all of his millions of hunting pictures onto my computer to post the four pictures I wanted to have (yes, you would be correct in guessing that I'm not technologically advanced in the least).

When I went through those pictures I did find some oldies but goodies of the kids amongst the hunting adventure pictures. When on earth were my kids that little? How can it feel like forever ago and feel like yesterday at the same time? {Wow, I sound like my Mom.}

It was not a good find for the week before school starts because after reviewing these pictures I'm realizing how fast it all goes... and now I just want to keep all my kids home with me and never let them out of my sight so they don't do one cute thing without my eyes on them. {Yes, I realize how I sound and no, I don't care that in this moment I'm "that" Mom.}

Natalie 4 1/2 - Carter 3

Jack - 5 weeks (and yes, that was me)

Gah! I just want to squeeze those adorable not-fighting-kids!

So proud of herself. (That's MY girl!)

Jack - about 9 months? ...Actually I have no idea. Don't judge me.

My three biggest littles when they were actually still fairly little (5, 4, and 11 months).

And now. Man I love these kids! (9, 8, and 4 1/2)

Oh how I miss having my heart inside my body.

Fit Friday

I love weekly posts but seriously, we've been so busy lately that it feels like they're all I do. I'll try to remedy that this week. You know, after today.

Last weekend was sort of a bust when it came to exercise...well, and eating if I'm honest. It wasn't pretty. But I really stepped it up the last 5 days to try to make up for it and I think I came out on top after all things considered.

Down another pound and a half - bringing my grand total since Fischer was born (three months ago) to 27 pounds (this makes me happy - it took me 3 years to lose that much after Carter was born 8 months to lose that much after Jack was born!).

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Total lost: 27 lbs.

Still to lose (to ultimate goal): 28 lbs.

Eleven.

That's the number of years we've been married now.

Since I heard it was such a huge milestone to make it past the 10 year mark, we decided to do it up big this year. We traveled far far away 45 minutes from home just the two of us with our 4 kids (and my parents) and ate at a super nice restaurant Subway on our way to a romantic getaway the Sea Lion Caves in Florence, Italy Oregon.

But seriously you guys, we had the best weekend.

We.Are.Blessed.

Fit Friday

This week more than makes up for last week's total bomb in the scale department. I'm down 3 1/2 pounds! Finally some movement! But what's even better than that is that I can (finally) tell that my clothes are starting to fit differently.

I grabbed a pair of jeans and pulled them up as far as they would go and Jeff looked at me like I was a little crazy when I excitedly exclaimed, "Look, babe! I can almost button these!" But seriously, it was an improvement from not getting them over my hips a couple of weeks ago.

Progress (no matter how small)? I'll take it!

Oh, I should also mention (because I think it has aided majorly in the scale movement) that I completely cut out refined sugar and artificial sweeteners about a week and a half ago. This is no small feat, but I remember it helping last year (before the pregnancy) with not only losing weight, but feeling normal again and feeling like I had some sort of control over my emotions which, let's face it, everyone appreciates. After being off the stuff for about four days the cravings were pretty much gone and I felt energized and refreshed and normal.

So, yeah, there you have it!

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Total lost: 25.5

Still to lose (to ultimate goal): 29.5

Fit Friday

I was actually stoked to step on the scale this morning after totally rocking it this week. I worked out every (week) day, drank over a gallon of water every.single.day. and ate within my allotted calories for each day even if most of the calories I ate one day happened to be in the form of banana bread. So I was excited.

But then I stepped on it. And it said the same thing as last week. Before getting upset, I did what any rational normal woman would do...I stepped off, waited for the scale to automatically shut off, and then stepped back on again - you know, just in case? Same number again.

I'm not getting discouraged. (Trying not to anyway.) I'll admit, it was hard enough to see only a one pound loss each week, but when the scale just stops it's hard to keep the upbeat attitude. But I KNOW that the choices I'm making are good for my body. I know these choices have to be making some sort of difference even if it's just teaching me patience - UGH!.

So I will continue on. Obviously. 

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Total pounds lost: 22

Still to lose (to ultimate goal): 33

Wordless Wednesday

{Fischer at 10 week old sporting 6-month sized jammies. We've obviously we've got the "feeding" thing down... The feet section of the pj's are a bit big though (he does not have duck feet as it appears in this photo).}

No more talky-talky for you.

Jack sat on my bed and watched me while I did my work out this morning.

He had a hard time keeping his thoughts to himself:

"Those exercises don't look very hard to me..."

"Why are you sweating already when you just started?..."

"Those weights are tiny, Mommy! Can I use them after you?"

...Needless to say, he's not allowed in the room when I'm working out any more.

Hangin' with the littles.

Natalie and Carter are in in central Oregon for the week (with Grandparents), so it's just the little boys my big boy Jack and baby Fischer at home.

We went to the lake yesterday and met up with Jack's best buddy, Noah, and his mommy (who also has a newborn - so we completely sympathize with each others inability to complete thoughts/sentences/...) and it's always fun soaking up the sun on a hot day at the lake with good friends.

In other news, my parents found a bike for Jack that fits him perfectly and it has no training wheels (!) on it. After about, oh, ONE trial run with my Dad holding on to the back of the bike, Jack just took off and is a champ now! Stopping and getting off the bike is still challenging, but the riding part he has down. It's adorable and he can't wait to surprise "his kids" with his new mad-two-wheel-riding-skills
when they get home.

Also? Jack's totally into the bike racing on the Olympics now.

She's Got...Skills?

When we were walking out of Fred Meyer the other day a homeless man with long hair and a cardboard sign in his hands walked up to the kids and I and started talking to us. He was mumbling under his breath and speaking sort of fast. We smiled at him, said hello, and then continued to our car.

After we got buckled in and started on our way Carter asks, "Mom, what did that man say?"

Natalie pipes up, "I'll tell you. He said, 'Hey kids, it's a beautiful day - hope you get to enjoy it. God bless.' ...Wow, Mom! I had no idea I could speak Hippie!"

And I was speechless.

Smarter Than My Fourth Grader?

The other day I was talking to Jeff about ordering my materials for home schooling Jack next year for Pre-K and the older kids overheard us.

Natalie pipes up, "You're allowed to home school Jack?"

I said, "Yep. I could home school all of you guys until you're out of high school if I wanted to."

She thinks about it for a minute before I finally hear, "I don't know if you should do that, Mom. You probably don't want to have to learn all that stuff school kids have to know. If we're going to get home schooled maybe you should just let Dad do it since he probably already learned it all."

Thankyouverymuch,kid.

Fit Friday

I don't have much time today (or this week at all as you can see from my lack of being "around") but wanted to at least post my "Fit Friday" two weeks in a row as it's got to be some sort of record, right?

When I stepped on the scale this morning I was not exactly excited. I had worked hard this week and just feel like it didn't show on the scale, but I guess any loss is better than nothing (or gaining!) so I'll just go with it.

Down 1 pound again this week. It's slow going, but at least it's going.

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Total lost: 22 lbs

Still to lose: 33 lbs (to ultimate goal)