Baby Girl Turns 3

For Baby Girl's birthday we had a princess and prince party. We invited a handful of kids and I made prince capes in blue satin for the boys and hot pink princess tutus for the girls.



And sadly this is the best group shot we could manage.

Part of our activities for the day were to make our own princess and prince crowns. I had already cut out foam crowns and the kids were able to color them with markers and attach sticky jewels all over the place.







We all got sparkly wands that were cute for about two seconds before they became swords.



Which resulted in more than a few situations like this one.



After pictures and a few wand fights we settled down to food and cake. We had tuna fish bites and ham and cheese flowers along with red grapes.





While the kids ate really well for the most part, their favorite things were the little forks that held the sanwiches together. I think every single child tried to eat their entire meal with the cocktail skewer rather than their fingers like they were supposed to. I know Baby Girl loved that part (obviously).



When it came time for cake, we had a single layer with candles ready for Baby Girl to blow out and then frilly pink cupcakes with white frosting and fancy rings as decoration. The rings were a huge hit and the frosting, too.



The pink cake, while fun, was store bought strawberry so I didn't really fault them for not wanting to eat it.



Finally, we opened presents. Baby Girl got dress up clothes, a fancy princess box with her name on it, a pretty tea set, and some color wonder paper and markers that are probably going to save the day when we leave for Utah in a few days.













All in all, it was a great day and after clean up and naps, we played dress up and wore our fancy head band and earrings and necklace the rest of the day.


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One Helluva Good Cookie

Now, why am I using such salty language in my blog post?

Because for over a year I have tweaked my way to what I believe is the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and last night I went one better and created...

The Devil's Food, Double Chocolate Chip Cookie.

The Triple Chocolate Killer?

Super Chocolate Extreme?

Ok, so the name is eluding me, but either way, it is one helluva good cookie.
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Overweight: Week 2

Another week, another two pounds.

I'm always nervous on Sunday mornings now because I don't look at a scale or measuring tape the entire week so I'm never really sure just how well I'm doing until it's time to report.

But, today is a good day and I have successfully met my goals.

When I decided to start blogging about my weight, I realized that I needed to start some form of exercise along with watching what I ate. So I picked walking. I found a nice walking path by my house and have strapped the kids in the double stroller every morning for a 1-3 mile walk.

After two weeks of that, Baby Girl has informed me that she doesn't like walks and generally hates the double stroller.

Awesome. Now what? Any suggestions?


Stats:

Weight: 189
Chest: 40
Waist: 34
Hips: 44



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Photo Memory Phriday

Doing Hair.

This was taken just over 1 year ago and is pretty much how we always looked trying to get Baby Girl's clothes. It was entertaining for Grandma F.

She's much better now and will actually sit still while we do pigtails...mostly.


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Mmmmm...Cereal

Baby boy got his first tast of cereal last night.



Hmm...I'm not sure about this spoon thing.



Yep! It's a hit!!
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Feeding Mousarina

Baby Girl has really amped up the imaginative play lately, and almost all of her stuffed animals are now doing the exact same things that Baby Boy is doing.

On the flip side, Baby Girl is now doing almost exactly what I am doing.



Here, Baby Girl is feeding Mousarina her cereal. She has moved a toy high chair onto our dining room chair, and is spoon feeding her "Ice Christmas Treats" and as you regular folk call them, Rice Krispies.
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What.Are.These!

These are the coolest things ever!




They sure taste good, too.
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Well, that was easy!

Oh Look! 191 pounds! BMI of 29!! I'm no longer Obese!!

I'm just dangerously overweight. But let's not focus on that. Let's focus on the fact that I have some great momentum right now and that I lost 4.5 pounds!! Here are my stats:

Chest: 41
Waist: 35
Hips: 45

Now, before you geek out about my amazing loss of inches. I should probably say that I posted the wrong stats last week.

Yep. I've been tracking my inches for a while in an excel spreadsheet like the closet nerd that I am and I posted numbers that were from earlier this year. That's not to say that the numbers are that much better, but some. So check back at my previous post if you're interested to see the actual differences.

I've made some realizations this week as well. I've realized that I am an emotional eater to the max and that I have almost no will power against cake and cookies. Yep. Some people can't turn down chocolate or sweets. For me it's cake and cookies. The more decadent the better.

I've also realized that I snack mindlessly pretty much all day. I've been tracking my food intake and exercise minutes via SparkPeople and that has really helped. If you're interested in exactly what I ate/did this past week you can see my public profile where I am sharing everything that I track for another level of transparency and accountability.

Anyway, wish me luck this week in losing another couple pounds and a few more inches and if you are so inclined, join me on sparkpeople and be my "friend" we can do this together.
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Sparkle Shoes

Baby Girl absolutely LOVES glitter.

It doesn't really matter what it's on, if she can wear it, she will. This is particularly true about shoes. Grandma M bought her a pair of sparkle shoes when Baby Boy was born and she has worn the glitter right off of them.



I mentioned this to a friend of mine and she was like, "Just glue some more glitter on." And since I thought that was a pretty good idea, that's what we did.














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Photo Memory Phriday

In an effort to document my life for the past however long it's been since I've updated this blog, I thought I would catch up with photo memories.



Has it really been that long since I've posted anything substantial? Yes, yes it has.


When Daphne turned one we had a few friends over and ate cupcakes. She was much neater than we anticipated, but it was fun all the same.



She got a play vacuum and a play kitchen that she still plays with to this day. The vacuum is a favorite toy of pretty much any child that comes into the house, so as much as it irritates me, it was definitely a good gift!







Spaghetti was our lunch of choice and as you can see, it was a favorite to be sure!



Wrapping Paper!!
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OBESE class 1

I weigh 195.5 pounds.



Yes, really. I haven't seen some of you in a while so it may come as a surprise...or not.

Here is a picture taken of me at Daphne's birthday party last Friday.



To be honest, I'm nervous and embarassed and a tiny bit humiliated about this post. I'm not much of a finisher. I have boxes of unfinished projects and I've started to lose weight more times than I care to admit.

I've decided that maybe a dose of humiliation and brutal honesty is what I need to finally be accountable for my actions. It sucks, but at the same time I'm hopeful of the outcome.

Now, the title is correct. I checked my BMI last night and I am technically obese. I gained weight when I was pregnant with Baby Boy and his delivery was much harder than Baby Girl's which translates to slower movements and at least 10 pounds that I have yet to lose 4 months later.

So back to the humiliating part. I'm going to blog my weight loss every Sunday. This scares me because I suck at posting updates, and I suck at losing weight.

I'm not saying this because I'm fishing for complements or affirmation that I'm a good person or whatever. I'm doing this because I don't want to be obese when I enter my thirties next may.

So - Here are my stats:

Height: 5'8"
Weight: 195.5
Chest: 41"
Waist: 36"
Hips: 46"

Wish me luck!!
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At least it wasn't her nose...right?

Baby Girl loves money. Specifically coins. She likes the sounds they make when they're together, she loves sharing them with others, and putting them in her little purse.

She also likes to stick them in random places around the house. I'm thankful that she doesn't put them in her mouth, but there are others places I wish she wouldn't put them either.

Like our printer.



I was trying to pull photos off of a memory card today and had a little trouble fitting the card into the appropriate slot.



It was then that I noticed a penny had been shoved inside and left there for who knows how long. It took a little finagling, but I eventually removed the penny and was able to upload the photos from the card.



At least it wasn't her nose...right?
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Summer Fun

We had our first ice cream of the season tonight.

It was also Baby Girl's first time eating ice cream from a cone. We walked to an ice cream shop with our friends DB and JB and their son, AB. Baby Girl and AB love the wagon and giggled the entire way to the shop.


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A New Easter Dress

Every year growing up I would get a new Easter Dress. Usually my mom would make it and it was such a fun tradition. Now that Daphne is here I'm excited to start this tradition with her. We dressed her up today and took her to a local park so that we could take pictures of her in her dress.

It was a perfect day and the flowers have just come into bloom at Cantigny so it was an ideal time to take the photos. Now, being that Baby Girl is a runner and won't hold still for anything most of my shots were of the back of her head, and barring the first two shots, here are a few of my more successful attempts.

























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