Days 2, 3, 4, and 5

The Photography challenge is going ok.  I am definitely more conscious of picking up the camera now.  The problem is I think I'm trying too hard.  I'm trying to do different angles and playing with the settings on my camera.  These are good things, but I'm messing it all up.  I honestly think the best picture I've taken this week was one I took with my iPhone!  Oh my...I REALLY need to learn how to use my camera better.  Oh well, I may not be a professional, but at least I'll have pictures of my girls throughout their childhood.  I just feel like I need to be using my camera to its full potential and keeping it on auto (because I mess up everything when I adjust the settings) is giving me "point and shoot" results. 

Ok, I'm going to stop complaining about my lack of skills now.  :)  Enjoy the photos!

Day 2:  What you wore today.

 It's a pretty plain shirt so I had to focus on the "pretty".  :)

Day 3:  Clouds

I hadn't looked at what the challenge was for the day until it was already dark outside.  Oops!  Thank God it was such a gorgeous morning with interesting clouds first thing in the morning.  I snapped this shot with my cell phone!

Day 4:  Something green

This is my sweet gardenia that we planted a few months ago.  The poor thing gets so many buds but they quickly turn brownish black and fall off.  I had to capture a picture of it while it was still green!

Day 5:  From a high angle

If you consider standing on a chair in front of the loveseat a "high" angle :)  I love that I was able to capture this rare moment of my girls loving each other!

Desserts

Sometime during the summer I had this great idea.  The idea was to spoil my family...well, sort of.  Remember back in "the day" when you'd come home from school and have a snack of warm cookies straight out of the oven dipped in a cold glass of milk?  Mmmmm...I'm salivating just thinking about all that chocolately goodness!  I want my girls to look forward to Mom's desserts.  I want them to grow up appreciating the finer things.  So often today we live by convenience.  I'm guilty of it!  But I want them to know that sometimes the wait is worth it.  The time and energy you put in to things can make a lot of difference if you're patient enough to work for it. 

Two of my favorite things to make from scratch are carrot cake and cheesecake.  We start out by shredding the carrots with a good ol' cheese grater.  It's messy but the texture of the carrots is PERFECT that way.  I've used the food processor in the past when I was in a hurry but they're not a good, and it makes a lot more dishes to wash!

So, back to the great idea I had...I planned on making one dessert every week.  When the dessert runs out, that's it.  We'd have to wait until the following week to enjoy the next dessert.  The plan of having desserts in the house was a good one before yesterday.  Yesterday I started following Weight Watchers again so I have to be more careful with the desserts! I almost didn't make a dessert this week (hubby's out of town so I didn't want to be tempted to eat the whole thing!).  Then I thought more about it and realized the true test of losing weight isn't in deprivation, it's in self control.  I can't live the rest of my life completely avoiding foods that are bad for me.  I can't avoid situations where food is served that doesn't "fit in" to my lifestyle.  I have to exercise self control if I really want the results I'm looking for.

So, baby girl and I headed out for our weekly groceris and I picked up a box brownie mix.  (I know, I know, I cheated!)  To be honest, I've made brownies from scratch before and they never turn out the same for me.  I don't know what I do differently every time, but this time I opted for the box. 

The brownies have been in the oven for exactly 10 minutes and my house smells like a Starbucks!  Starbucks??  you say?  Yes, Starbucks.  I didn't opt for regular brownies, I went with mocha fudge brownies!  OH. MY. GOODNESS.  If this isn't going to be the biggest test in self control, I don't know what is!  Feast your eyes on this:

Ok, I could've done without the family size box, I'll admit it!  I just have this obsession with checking the unit price and this was cheaper than the smaller box.  I need to stop that sometimes, especially when it comes to my weight loss!  It's worth it to pay a little more sometimes for a little less temptation.

So, what's the WWPP value of these babies??  5.  The 9x13 dish will get cut into 20 brownies and each one will have a value of 5 points plus.  YIKES!  Thank God for those flex points being built in every week.  I figure I can eat 2 of these this week.  I'm going to wrap them individually and freeze most of them.  I'll keep out 2 for me, 2 for my big girl and 1 for the baby and the other 15 will get put in the freezer for another week.

*Note.  They're done now (and giving me the stare down from the countertop where they're cooling!!).  The box said bake 28-31 minutes.  Do NOT bake them that long.  The edges are crispy and there's no softness to the center like I prefer.  I did them 28 minutes.  Next time I'll try 25.

Baby Weight

When I was expecting my first child, I remember reading something that said "Don't expect the baby weight to come off immediately.  It took nine months to gain the weight, give yourself nine months to lose it."  Well, my youngest daughter turned 9 months old on June 2nd.  Now the weight is mine, not hers :(

Let's step back for a minute...when my oldest daughter was born in June 2008, I dropped most of the baby weight in two weeks.  When she was just 2 1/2 months old, my husband and I went on Weight Watchers together.  We didn't attend meetings, I just planned our meals and we stuck to our points allowance for the day and tried to stay active.  Niether of us was going to the gym, but we took family walks together in the evenings and played in the back yard with the dog a lot.  Within a few months we had both lost so much weight.  I was about 30 pounds below my prepregnancy weight and back into size 10 clothes.  I felt good about myself.  I felt in control.  I was happy.  Then in April 2009 hubby went overseas and my bad eating habits all came flooding back.  The bored eating, the lonely eating, the feeling sorry for myself eating.  The pounds starting creeping back on.  I was fully aware of it, but the more weight I gained, the more I beat myself up for it, the more I felt bad about myself, the more I ate.  What a vicious cycle! 

In early January 2010 I found out I was pregnant with daughter #2.  Imagine my relief!  I could stop beating myself up over the weight gain.  Now it was ok to gain weight.  YAY!  I remembered how easy it was to lose the weight after the first baby so I wasn't worried about it after the second.  What a mistake that was!  I gained almost 40 pounds with my second pregnancy.  Yes, she was a big girl weighing in at 8 pounds 6 oz, but most of that weight took up residence in my butt and thighs.  Seriously, I used to "joke" about my butt looking pregnant before my front!  Unfortunately it wasn't a joke...it was the truth.  Yuck.

So here I am, over a year past the birth of my second daughter and I am starting the battle to lose weight again. This isn't the first time since her birth I've started this journey, but this is the time I'm going to win.  I'm actually only carrying about 5 pounds more than what I weighed when I got pregnant, but I had already gained about 25 pounds before I got pregnant.  Side note:  This is the first time I'm putting it all into writing.  Really, it's the first time I've let myself do the math.  It's frightening to think I was about to gain 25 pounds in 9 months without being pregnant...it makes me nauseous to think about it.

Today I started following the Weight Watchers Points Plus program again.  I'm not planning to go to meetings, just hoping to keep up the motivation to lose the weight for good this time. 

So, what did I do to get started?  First, I weighed myself.  YUCK.  I don't think I'll ever make friends with a scale!  Then I sat down and made out my weekly menu.  I planned all of my dinners, figured out the points for those dinners, including any sides.  Then I looked at how many points plus values I had remaining for the day.  My next most important meal is breakfast so I figured out what breakfasts I want to prepare for me and the girls, then planned lunches and snacks with the points that were left over.  Oh, and I was sure to keep my 4 points per day for my coffee!!

My goals for this week: 

• DON'T EAT OFF THE GIRLS' PLATES!!!!  It's ok to throw food away.  Don't eat it just because it's there.  Most of the time I pick off of their plates, I find myself saying why am I eating this?  It's not even good.  That's just the habit I've gotten myself into.
• Drink more water.  I've really been slacking on the water.  I've been drinking a lot more diet sodas lately.  I'll limit myself to 4 diet sodas a week.  I used to drink 1-2 per day.  (I had one today)

Wish me luck!!

Day 1

Day 1:  Self-Portrait

I can't stand self-portraits.  I either look like a horse or like I've been arrested on drunk driving charges...remember Nick Nolte?  Here's a reminder:

Ok, maybe I don't look quite that bad, but we are our own worst critic and I'm pretty hard on myself!

Here's my "mug shot" from today.  I was having some playtime in the back yard with my 3 year old and had her sit on my lap for a picture of the two of us. 

I'm looking forward to pictures of myself without braces in a few months!!

Inspiration

I've been having a hard time picking up my camera lately.  The iPhone is just so convenient that often my Nikon sits quietly up on the bar just waiting to be used.  Some days I pick it up and get frustrated because I don't know how to use it to it's full potential.  I get some good shots, but I know I can get much better ones.  I found this list on a fellow blogger's blog and thought I'd try it out for myself.  Starting tomorrow, September 15, 2011.  (Please do me a favor and don't compare my photography to hers...hers is WAY better!! I'm just getting started.)  I know it's unconventional to start a "30 day challenge" in the middle of the month, but I can be an unconventional kind of person.  Besides, I think I've started every new diet, or any new "habit" I want to start, on Mondays.  And those haven't worked out so great...maybe I should start on a Wednesday next time :)

Enjoy the challenge!!

Meet and Greet

Hi there! I just decided to get back into the world of blogging.  I'm not a professional by any means, so don't expect any deep thought from me :)  What I hope to get out of this blog is a good journal of my kids' lives as they grow.  Along the way I hope to make you laugh at the silly thing my 3 year old says (and things the baby will say when she gets older), give you some cute craft ideas (if I come up with any...), share my meal planning and preparation with you (I've got some ideas up my sleeve), and just let you have a peek into our lives. 

A little about me.  I'm 32 years old and a stay at home mom of two beautiful little girls.  I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania.  I joined the Army when I was 18 and gave 10 1/2 years of service, both on active duty and in the PA Guard.  My husband and I moved to Texas nine months before daughter number 1 was born and I've been a stay at home mom ever since.  I love my life but struggle with it as well.  I always said if I became a stay at home mom I wouldn't lose myself.  I would stay who I am and not be identified as a wife and mother.  Well, it's happening.  I'm Sarah, the mom.  I'm trying to work through redefining myself as Sarah while still being a dedicated mommy.  It's a delicate balance, I'm learning!  I really feel like my girls need to see me as an individual and not just in the role of mom and wife.  I need to do this for them as much as for me...but now I'm straying and this is a topic for another blog another day! 

I hope you'll follow along on this journey!