watchin' my weight Wednesday- except it's Thursday

My guys at the zoo- checking out the elephants

Aren't they so cute? Sorry about the obnoxious recycling can in this one...

Will everyone please go back to school/work so I can blog already?! Just kidding. Big Tall Hubby has his spring break this week (kids last week) and he has been working on a big project for his PhD classes so I was away from the computer again. Actually, yesterday was one of those days. You know what I mean? I was spilling stuff left and right, dropping things, spending all day in the car running errands, eating goodness knows what because of all that running, finishing laundry at 10:30 PM so our bed would be cleared enough for us to actually get in it! Yep, one of those days.

Anyway, so I love to talk about my love/hate relationship with being healthy and I am finding it so hard to not be discouraged about gaining weight. Now before you get all "but you are pregnant dummy!" on me, I know that but it is sooooooooo hard to gain weight and not feel guilty/mad/frustrated/gross even when you are pregnant. I mean, I am one of those gals who has not been blessed with the naturally skinny gene so this is hard. This has been a life long battle. Trying to be healthy and still enjoy life is tough, you know. I hate just giving in, losing control. To let go. To surrender to Mother Nature, scares the control freak in me to death. I always think, how can I get any bigger than this?! How am I going to lose this dang weight in a few months? Why did I eat that cookie? Does the doctor really have to weigh me? Didn't these pants fit last week? Did my arms just jiggle as I waved to my daughter on the school bus? The mind racing thoughts are so terrible and would make for an interesting session with a psychologist.

AND Big Tall Hubby is on a losing weight marathon. That is making it so much worse. I just see him cinching his belt and looking all skinny in the face and I feel a groan coming on, jealously stinks. He is getting smaller and I am getting well, huger. I am so proud of him. I am so happy for him. He got his cholesterol checked a month or so ago and his number were high, not scary high but so much so that our doctor said, "lose weight or you'll be needing medicine or worse." So I have been helping Big Tall Hubby by making more healthy meals and encouraging him to exercise more giving him lots of Weight Watcher tips and advice. He jumped in feet first. He is hardly snacking at all. I have to go to the store all the time to buy more apples! He gave up soda. He didn't eat any of the cookies me and the kids made last week or this week (who did!? I'll never tell!) He is doing so great. He has lost about 20 pounds so far. I mean, guys they just do a few things and whammo! They lose a ton of weight. Just stinks. For us women, I mean. See, jealousy is wretched.

Anyway, I am trying to enjoy being pregnant even with all the crazy comments people have said recently (maybe I will share some tomorrow). I am trying to give in to some of the baby's cravings, they are certainly not mine! ;) I am still exercising and trying to adhere to my Weight Watchers training and principals but by golly it doesn't make me any less envious of those who will be enjoying a skinny summer with their thighs not rubbing together!

Oh, a good song to download to your workout playlist...

"Brand New Day" by Sting

I was on the elliptical this morning and it came on and it was just like, "ahh" totally a refreshing, uplifting, love-the-lyrics kind of song. It has a slow build and I think it just fit perfectly to my workout this morning. In fact, I hit "repeat" and listened to it again!

you can see it here, really goofy video (sorry Sting, I still love you tons babe) but awesome song: Brand New Day

Hi y'all!

Wow, I didn't intend to take a week off from blogging (it is definitely a highlight of my day- I love catching up with everyone!) but having those three monkeys home all week with the temperatures lingering around 33 degrees made for a loooooooong week. What a crummy spring break for my kids. We were all excited to have a couple days of warm weather while they were still in school.

Then, kablamo! Rain, hail (see our patio!), and freezing temps.

We didn't get to play outside hardly at all. Well, we did, but believe me, I was sporting my winter snow hat and gloves (no kidding) and we played for 20 minutes at a time. I was really wanting to take them to the parks and do some yard work and clean up our garage but alas, Mother Nature thought differently.

Instead, they played with playdoh, painted a bunch of pictures, totally destroyed their rooms (but they were playing!), drove me insane (just kidding!), went swimming (yep, me in the indoor pool with all three!), went to the library, and got into the temporary tattoos, see...

Parker is looking a little like Dennis Rodman, but that's ok.

We finally had a warmish day on Sunday and we went to the zoo. It ended up being a lovely day. We bought a family pass this year so I'm sure I'll be sharing lots of photos this summer of us hanging out there. I love the gardens at our zoo so be prepared for lots of posed shots of my three cuties.

My things to do this week:

• finish sorting pictures (only two more envelopes to go!!!)
• order a few more pics from Walgreens (finishing up some projects)
• mend two items: one of my produce bags and a sweater (lingering projects from a couple weeks ago)
• clean my upstairs doors
• clean/purge from my cleaning cabinet
• pick up our taxes
• schedule an air conditioner tune up
• schedule our sprinkler system turn on
• schedule a gutter cleaning

a lot of these are repeats from last week and before, with everyone home and no outside activities, it made getting any chores done next to impossible

my menus for this week:

• grilled metts & brats with sauerkraut and beer baked beans (pregnancy craving!)
• asparagus and sausage risotto
• beef and broccoli stir fry
• lasagna rolls and salads
• shrimp alfredo

Spring Break

Hi y'all. Let me first say "Wahooee!!!!!!" I am sooooooooooo excited that my Kentucky Wildcats are going to the final four. Hot digity. Cannot wait. Big tall hubby is still sad about his Buckeyes, so I am trying to contain my excitement for now. Next, let me tell you it is spring break for the kids here. (Big tall hubby's school is in session, yet another reason we need to sell our house and move- so we'll all be on the same schedule!) So I am not sure how much I will get to post this week. I am already waaaaay behind on things I want to do and with all three of them home all week, it doesn't look too promising. So if i don't talk to you, have a great day (or so.)

A Rare Occasion

This is Parker's room before I painted it a year ago, just wanted you to see that we have equal representation of UK and OSU at our house. He also has UK and OSU pictures on another wall.

Lordy, lordy, what the heck, is you know where freezing over?!

For those of you who do not follow college basketball (I am a freako who does!), my beloved University of Kentucky Wildcats are playing my big tall hubby's Ohio State Buckeyes tonight in the NCAA tournament. Yikes! In all the years that my big tall hubby and I have been together, this has NEVER happened. OSU is usually a dominant football school while UK is a basketball powerhouse. So we kind of cheer for each other's teams during the appropriate seasons. Never been a problem. Well last year OSU had a great bball year and this year they have been ranked #1, a lot. My Cats have been somewhere in the top 25 all year, but they lost a lot of players last year and they are a young team. Nonetheless, I cheer for them and go crazy during March like all true blue fans. Tonight should be very interesting to say the least. Which ever team wins will be a loss at my house. :( On that note, I have to say...

GO BIG BLUE!!!

Brotherly Love

Who says boys can't be sweet? Especially brothers.

Look at this...

Parker decided to get a snack for Tanner. He wanted to make sure that I knew it was for Tanner. He couldn't write "Tanner" so he just put a "T" and a heart on it. Oh my gosh, I am crying. Seriously. (dang pregnancy hormones)

Then just last week I found them watching tv together. Is that the cutest thing ever?! I did not pose them. Right before I snapped the picture, Parker dropped his arm. They were just sitting there with their arms around each other. Uh oh, more tears. (darn you pregnancy hormones!)

watchin' my weight Wednesday

Motivation

This is probably the single most important thing that keeps me working out and eating right. It is also the biggest thing that can grow and diminish from day to day, no, make that minute to minute. I mean, really, I need lots of motivation to keep myself on the healthy track. I find motivation in so many areas. I talk about it here a lot by sharing my I-pod choices, my workout ideas, healthy recipes, where to find cute cheap workout gear, etc.

But, am I motivated to eat right every day? Um, nope. (I just finished a couple tacos from Taco Bell because we spent three hours at the doctor and Walgreens and by the time we were done I was going to eat one of my kids!) But, am I motivated to exercise every day. Heck no! I haven't exercised since Sunday this week. (Been up all night with sick baby and sick preschooler... that kind of wrecks havoc on my workout schedule.) So, what to do?

Start over, right now. This minute. OK, so I ate kind of crummy food for lunch. Well it wasn't crummy, it was yummy, but was it healthy, not so much. I ate a healthy breakfast (yay me) and I am making a really good potato frittata with roasted broccoli for dinner (yay me again). I am also going to attempt to take a walk outside with the boys and the dog (if the weather permits) because we have done this every day this week and they are enjoying and I am getting some sort of physical activity in my sleep-deprivation mode. So I feel pretty good about the whole healthy living thing, despite my "oopses" this week.

With all my true confessions today (who knew that's how this would turn out!) I thought I'd share some things that keep me motivated. Once I started thinking about it, I was surprised at how many things I rely on and look forward to that help me on this healthy living path.

Things that motivate me:

• being a Weight Watcher member (currently on hiatus until bambino is born)
• reading fitness magazines and blogs
• reading success stories of people who have lost weight or concered a fitness goal (usually in magazines but I do have a great WW book with success stories)
• tracking (writing down) what I eat and how much I exercise
• new workout clothes, that fit correctly (kind of a problem now but I know it is temporary)
• taking fitness classes (spinning and bootcamp are my favorites- still doing them, it is not pretty but I go and do it big belly and all, and will continue until it becomes uncomfortable)
• running 5K races (someday that marathon!)
• finding new recipes to try and actually trying them
• music, I am still working on filling up that new Ipod I got for Christmas
• tv shows that highlight healthy living (Biggest Loser, Ruby* see below*, Thintervention, Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution)
• writing these Wednesday posts :)
• new clothes that fit correctly (again, not so much in my current state)
• pictures of me that show me in good shape, how I want to look (some people like the ones that show them heavy or out of shape but those just make me so sad)
• working for Weight Watchers as a receptionist (again, temporarily on hold until #4 is born and I reach goal weight)
• having energy to play with my kids
• trying to find fun activities to do with my kids that encourage them to be active
• having the will power to avoid those dang peanut M&Ms at the checkout (that is a victory every time I go shopping!)
• lifting weights, sometimes I am the only female in the weight room and I do not get the least bit intimidated by all those men
• getting rid of clothes that don't fit (either too big or too small)
• just knowing that the choices I make are enabling me to have a healthy, hopefully long life is a pretty big motivator!

So as my motivation waxes and wanes, I know eating healthy, exercising, and maintaining a healthy weight will be a struggle for the rest of my life. Darn, why couldn't I be one of those gals who could just eat anything and not worry about it? Or be like my mom, the kind of gal who "forgets" to eat, um, yeah, whatever. Or why couldn't I be a professional athlete, then I'd have to be in shape for my job? All right, that is getting far fetched!

Anyway, so on to Ruby. Do you watch her show? She is on the Bravo channel on Sunday nights. I don't know how I found her but I think she is amazing. At one time in her life she weighed over 700 pounds! Through changing her diet, exercising, counseling and sheer will and hard work, she has lost half of that weight. She has not had any surgery or anything to help her out. Her show documents her struggles. Just because she wants to lose 200 more pounds doesn't mean her struggles don't mirror my own. She lacks motivations sometimes (she has two sweet trainers to help her, wish I did too!), she emotionally eats (um, me too), she has things in her life that made her the way she is (yep, understand that too). So you can see how she is just like every one of us who strives to be healthy. This clip is kind of a preview for this season. She is having a lot of emotional stuff going on this season so it is kind of melodrama but I really think it is worth a looksee.

So what motivates you all? I would love any tried and true remedies from my bloggy momma friends.

Also, my recommended song to download this week is: "Born this Way" by Lady Gaga. I wanted to include a link to the video, but I watched it and honestly it is frightening and really gross. I love Gaga but this one is too icky. Trust me. The song is great but the video, not so much. I think it would be great for hill running and/or intervals. Right now, I am not running but it is a nice addition to my treadmill songs nonetheless. Anything that makes me want to dance is a keeper! Some of you might be saying, "duh, isn't this song like #1 on the charts" but if you haven't exercised to it, you are missing out.

Happy Wednesday!

what's in a name

Parker James, Tanner John, & Zoe Abigail

Photo from 2010

How do you feel about picking a name for your child? Oh my gosh, I stress about it so much. I have the most common name on the planet, really, Jennifer. At least my mom gave me Renee as a middle name, so I am sort of unique. All the Jennifers I know are Jennifer Marie or Jennifer Lynn, I ask, it drives Zoe crazy but I always ask a Jennifer (reading nametags!). I have only met one other Jennifer Renee at a scrapbooking thing no less, and she goes by Jen Renee. I never thought of myself as a Jen, Jens are always really sporty and cute. Me, not so much. I am Jenny or Jennifer (to my family). I am ok with it, luckily Jennifer kind of lost its luster and it is slowly becoming old fashioned, like Sarah, Sophia, or Katherine used to be. Maybe it will be in vogue when it is time for me to have a granddaughter.

I hate trying to figure out what would be appropriate for a child and an adult. I scour baby name books finding nicknames that might be questionable (i.e. cause major trauma for my child during their teen years). I look at their initials combinations. I have already begun to search the web for names for #4. It is overwhelming.

I like sort of different names (not celebrity different- Apple or Moses or Honor) but not run of the mill (being one of three Jennifers in all my classes kind of traumatized me). When I was pregnant with Zoe, I knew she would either be Zoe or Parker (I picked Zoe and Paul picked Parker.) So then came Parker, we knew he would be Parker or Paige. Then along came Tanner. I had picked Tanner and Olivia. One of my besties from college also had a Tanner a few months before I did. I was so worried that she would be annoyed that I took her name choice, I dreaded it for weeks before finally telling her that we had picked the same name. She lives in another state so it's not like we are seeing each other all the time! She promised me she wasn't mad so I was feeling ok when Tanner was born.

Then, SURPRISE! Here comes #4, we have never found out gender before but I felt like this time we had to, we have a lot to organize and I have to begin purging baby clothes, they are taking over my basement (that's a whole different post)! Anyway, I was convinced this one would be a girl. Surely the good Lord would give me a boy, three boys! Just for the reason that I hate going to the grocery most days, Dear Lord, do you know how many groceries I am going to have to buy in the next 18 years?!!? I mean the gallons of milk alone, are totally frightening!

Anyway, I thought we would have an Olivia and boy names just never really entered my mind. Two ultrasounds later, we are 99% sure he is in fact a he, it was pretty obvious if you know what I mean. ;) So here I am wondering, boy names... I want it to be an -er ending name so #4 doesn't feel left out from his other brothers. But I don't want it to sound too much like Parker and Tanner. Hmm, this is really hard! I mean, I like these: Tucker, Conner, and a couple more but none are sounding like the "one." So how would you feel if someone picked the same name as one of your kids? I mean, really, be honest. Some of the names I like are very similar or the same as some friends, hey my friends have great taste! I had no idea anyone would name their daughters Zoe, I had never met a Zoe until I had a Zoe, now they are everywhere!!! I thought naming my daughter after a Lenny Kravitz song (and his daughter by the way) was just so unique and different. Just ask any Jennifer... being uniquely the same isn't so bad.