Last few days and some upcoming plans

I didn’t do too shabby the other night at my parents’ house.  My dad makes a pretty good sausage based sauce, but I just had one serving and a small amount of spaghetti to go along with it.  I also had a slice of garlic bread and a huge plate of salad with just one tablespoon of lite ranch dressing (it was that or fat free Italian and I much prefer ranch for a salad).  I guzzled down water, had some apple slices and caramel sauce to share with other people and overall focused on spending time with my family rather than stuffing my face with comfort food.

Wednesday morning I repeated Couch to 5K Week 1 Day 1 (I had done it Monday also) and my eating was not horrible.  I’m tracking with Weight Watchers and My Fitness Pal (more on that in a bit).  I had 44 points (My daily is 35) and earned 8 activity points.  Calorie wise I ate 1909 calories and burned 525 calories for a net of 1384 calories that day.  I made these awesome little egg dishes for dinner.  We had them on our anniversary trip in June at a bed and breakfast and they’re so ridiculously easy.  You put two slices of deli ham in a muffin cup, crack an egg into the cup that the ham has made, then I put half a slice of thinly sliced Sargento cheese (any flavor really) over top.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.  They’re just so tasty and EASY!  My little guy gobbles them up and so does my husband.

Thursday was okay, I was dealing with the shower drain before I was going to go to the gym and by the time I got done, it was too late to go, I knew I’d have about 15 minutes there before I’d have to head home since I had to take little guy to my parents’ house for the day (typically the husband does drop offs).  So I didn’t get in much activity at all and I had about 1900 calories / 46 points for the day.  Dinner was excellent, but I have to mess with the recipe and get the points/calories down.  I made a pretzel crusted chicken that I can’t wait to have seconds of for lunch today.  Here is the original recipe http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/honey-mustard-pretzel-chicken/

I’ve been contemplating the Fit Bit Flex wrist for awhile now but was scared based on the reviews.  I heard nothing but good about the Fit Bit One, and earlier this week someone slipped me some money and told me to do something nice for myself and so I bit the bullet and bought it yesterday.  I love it!  There’s so much cool stuff it tracks, my steps/miles each day, how many calories I’m burning in general, the amount of floors I’ve gone up, how many minutes I’ve been active, and then at night it tracks my sleep, which I NEED TO BE BETTER ABOUT!  I’ll tell husband I’m going to bed at 9:30 and be up until 11 just screwing around on my iPad and that has got to stop!  All it does is make my mornings miserable.  So I gave up my ActiveLink membership with Weight Watchers.  I just wasn’t crazy about it like this Fit Bit.  Plus, I went to Target (could have saved $5-10 ordering off of Amazon) and for some strange reason they were ringing up $30 off so I saved big bucks on it!

Today was my fourth day eating the same breakfast.  I am in love with the oats, raspberry preserves, cinnamon cream cheese mixture I’ve been making.  I’m going to attempt to feed it to the little one this weekend and see if he likes it.  My mom thinks he’s getting sick of his eggs and toast at her house each morning, so maybe a switch up is in order.

Tonight I’m driving to Pittsburgh to hang with some lovely ladies from my mom’s group and then I’m going to spend the night at one of their houses and I’ll be back home in the morning.  I’ll miss tomorrow’s swim lesson, but that’s fine, the husband needs to take a turn, he hasn’t gone in a few weeks, working weekends and all.  Then my step-son should be home in the afternoon.  He’s coming home because we’re doing our annual candy day this weekend.  So Sunday will be hard for me.  There’s non-stop munchies, which I’ve been good all week, so it shouldn’t be a problem, but munchies at these types of gatherings are bad for me and they’re especially bad the day before my weigh-in.  I’ll also have to watch the wine intake.  Whomp whomp ;-)

Stayed with it today!

Yesterday went well.  I weighed in at WW at 236.4.  I will only make that weight go down from here.

I earned 8 activity points according to my ActiveLink monitor and my final meal plan for the day was 42 points, using up 7 of my weekly points.

Here’s a rundown:

B:  Whole grain toast with a tsp of butter, an egg, a slice of ham and a slice of Muenster cheese (7)

B:  Coffee once I get to work (3)

L:  Pumpkin Sausage Pasta with Roasted Broccoli (10)

S:  ½ an apple (0)

S:  Sargento reduced fat Colby cheese stick (2)

D:  Italian wonderpot (bucatini pasta with tomatoes, spinach and feta) and skim milk (11)  *Added a Johnsonville Turkey Sausage to my meal for some protein (3)

S: ½ ounce of Tostitos Baked Scoop Chips and two small cookies (6)

Tonight we’re going to my parents’ for dinner and they’re serving spaghetti and meatballs with bread and salad.  I need to really control myself there, I can go overboard with my dad’s pasta.

I also made an amazing breakfast.  I got the idea from this pin but made it with just oats, a teaspoon of Sugar in the Raw, a wedge of Laughing Cow Cinnamon Cream Cheese and a tablespoon of the raspberry preserves.  It was so delicious my mouth is salivating, wanting more of it.  I’ve already put it in my tracker for tomorrow’s breakfast.  It was 6 points plus overall and so filling.

I also made it to the gym again today.  I did 30 minutes on the elliptical because I wanted to watch the news and hear about the government shutdown, which just angers me, so not sure why I did it other than I like to stay informed.

Starting over

I've had a lot of stress in the last two months, financially, emotionally, and at first I dealt with it in a good way, working out every chance I got.  Then things started piling up and I had to get my family ready for vacation.  I stopped going to the gym, stopped doing evening walks, any extra time was spent with my ass planted on my couch, decompressing.  I was down about 15 pounds and feeling really good about myself before all this happened.

Well vacation is over and fall is upon us and those things I was stressing about?  They’re not real problems. There’s a someecards that reads, “I’ve got 99 problems and 86 of them are completely made up in my mind.”  Yup, that was me.  The husband and I discussed this last night, how I've been taking it all in the past few weeks and shutting everyone out.  He recognized it, but didn't know what to do, he wasn't stressed about it and couldn't understand why I was (that’s what I DO honey…).

It’s gotten to the point that about a week and a half ago the temperature dropped and I embraced getting to wear long sleeved shirts or sweaters (read: bulky) to work.  Last week I asked some friends who have been successful in the weight loss department what has given them their motivation.  I was hoping that something would spark me.  I got a lot of great answers, but nothing stood out to me and I knew that evening I’d be sitting on the couch drinking my umpteenth glass of Cherry Coke and sneaking a Reese’s peanut butter cup or Chips Ahoy chewy cookie and thinking about how depressed I was that my son will be 2 in November and I’m still wearing my maternity pants because they’re comfortable and don’t hurt my waist.  That STILL wasn't enough to motivate me, what is wrong with me?  Then as I’m sitting here at work, I typed a report of a woman who passed away.  She was in her 50’s and her husband found her unresponsive in their living room from the night before.  She was overweight, had heart problems and had fell asleep downstairs, where she passed away.  I NEVER want my husband or sons to find me that way and if I can do anything to prevent it, it’s getting my weight under control.  I had been looking for a sign and when I typed that report, I finally felt something.

I've been counting calories and points since Thursday and will be starting back to Weight Watchers meetings officially this afternoon.  My weight last Wednesday was 238, but I’ll have an official weight later today after my meeting and go with that from now on.

Here’s today’s meals and snacks:
B:  Whole grain toast with a tsp of butter, an egg, a slice of ham and a slice of Muenster cheese (7)

B:  Coffee once I get to work (3)

L:  Pumpkin Sausage Pasta with Roasted Broccoli (10)

S:  ½ an apple (0)

S:  Sargento reduced fat Colby cheese stick (2)

S:  Hard boiled egg (2)

D:  Italian wonderpot (bucatini pasta with tomatoes, spinach and feta) and skim milk (11)

I get 35 points per day and that equals 35 points.

I also worked out today, jogging and walking intervals for 30 minutes at the gym.
That’s all for now!

Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge - Day 4

Dealing with Infertility for three years gave me plenty of time to find resources all over the Internet.  People were always amazed by the amount of knowledge I had regarding Infertility but it definitely helped me.  It helped me to understand what was going on with my body, it gave me the power to tell my OB/GYN that I didn’t want to use them anymore, I wanted to be seen by a specialist who dealt with true Infertility and it gave me something to do.

I was pretty much attached to the IF Board on The Bump.  There’s so many acronyms, different hormones that could be affecting your fertility, medications to take, etc. that I learned a lot from these ladies.

Fertility Friend has a great tutorial that every woman who is struggling to get pregnant should read and help understand their bodies better.  I don’t think that as soon as a couple decides to have children that they should be charting and stress themselves out with all of this BUT if you’re curious about it, it explains everything and has an easy to use chart to chart your monthly cycle.

My RE has a Facebook page, which was great to see so many success stories and to commiserate with other women who were struggling.

There's so many places on the Internet to help those who are struggling with IF get support or learn more about what their options are.

Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge - Day 3

Wordless Wednesday

The moment I felt "healed"

Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge - Day 2

I suffer from Infertility.  Infertility is defined as not being able to get pregnant despite having frequent, unprotected sex for at least a year — or for at least six months if the woman is age 35 or older.

Specifically I suffer from amenorrhea, the absence of my period.  I get a period maybe every 6 months, if that.  Since I successfully had a pregnancy and birth, I've only had two spotty periods and they were induced with progesterone supplements.  I've done all testing for Infertility and there is no explanation for it.  My Fallopian tubes are clear, all my blood levels are normal, I have eggs in my ovaries, I just don't ovulate and get a period each month like other women.  I also needed some pretty strong drugs to achieve a strong enough ovulation and the RE had determined I needed a progesterone supplement to sustain a pregnancy for me to carry to full term.

1. Infertility is a common problem.  10% of women in the U.S. will experience problems with getting pregnant.
2. Infertility is not something to be ashamed of.  I felt best when I shared my struggles with others and had shoulders to cry on.  I could not have gotten through my two pregnancy losses and the failed medical cycles we went through for over 2 1/2 years without the help of friends and family.  There is no reason to fight it alone.
3. Go to a Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE), don't just stay with your OB if you are struggling. An RE does much more monitoring for you.  I went through 7 cycles of Clomid with my OB before I moved onto the RE and realized the OB was not even monitoring me properly.  They were giving me doses of Clomid each month with no monitoring and I wasn't even ovulating on it.  Those were wasted months and took their toll on my body, my mental well-being and my marriage.
4. Yes, it will seem like everyone else is pregnant and most likely they are.  It sucks, there's no getting past that suck ass feeling either.  Wine helps.
5. Look into resources, there's the Compassionate Care program, I did NOT qualify, but know that others have.  I know my RE works with a foundation that donates money to families in need of money to help pay for treatments.  So don't just assume that you can't afford it.  I was lucky enough that my RE gave me medicine donated from other patients who no longer needed it.  I had over $2,000 in injections my cycle I got pregnant with Hayden and I didn't have to pay for any of the medicine that month, just treatments.

Some posts from the past:

http://wifeyadventures.blogspot.com/2011/01/plan-and-my-upcoming-weekend.html

http://wifeyadventures.blogspot.com/2011/01/blanket-thank-you.html

http://wifeyadventures.blogspot.com/2011/01/hello-again.html

http://wifeyadventures.blogspot.com/2010/09/latest-for-project-baby-making.html

Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge - Day 1

I'm going to try the Health Activist Writer's Challenge for 2013 again.  I didn't do so well last year but I'm trying to do more for myself and one of those things is writing, using a creative outlet.

I thought by engaging myself in the challenge, it would kick start my activity on the blog again and help me carve out a space of "me time" each day.

I've always struggled with my Infertility, even as a teenager when I didn't realize that I did have Infertility issues.  When Hubby and I first started dating my period would not show and I'd worry I was pregnant, silly me didn't realize at the time how hard it would be for me to get pregnant and I'd take tests all the time just in case.  I mean I'd been used to it in high school when my period was sporadic to say the least, but as an adult who was sexually active, it was more of a risk and as I gained more weight, my period became non-existent. I started researching IF online.  It became more important to figure this out when Hubby and I decided to marry.  I had joined The Knot to help plan our wedding and the next obvious step was to go to The Nest and The Bump so we could start trying for a baby.  From there I found lots of resources and blogs dedicated to other women suffering from IF.  Hopefully by sharing my stories about IF and using a specialist to finally achieve my dream of becoming a mother, I can educate other women about their bodies and answer questions for them.

Easter Baskets

We don't go crazy on Easter baskets but I like to get the boys something small.  Hubby already told me that boys in college don't get "Easter baskets with all that grass and crap."  Well sorry Hubby but our college boy is getting just that! I put together a basket for him this week with his favorite candies (did you see the Twix Easter Eggs they have this year????) a plastic egg with some cash in it, pens and pencils for school, packs of gum and his favorite movie right now, Anchorman.  I'm sure he won't mind it one bit!

Hayden's is bigger, but I spent about the same on them, which I always try and do but I always feel bad because Hayden's stuff is cheaper, so he gets more "stuff."  Hayden got three books (The Story of Easter, Spongebob Squarepants Easter and Happy Easter Mouse!)...oh wait, he got four books..wow, that boy likes to read.  We also got him Snuggle Puppy.  I read it today while putting the basket together and started sobbing.  I'm so emotional these days and I'm not sure why.  We also got him a Melissa & Doug puzzle, the fishy one with all the colors to learn, a foam football from Little Tikes (on clearance for $1.48 at Target baby!), some plastic eggs to play with, a small stuffed chick and the best gift of all, a Bubble Guppies DVD! He loves his Bubble Guppies and we don't mind it much either, it's a cute show that teaches him all the important little things in life.

Here are some pictures of Steven's basket.  I have to remember to take a picture of Hayden's basket at some point!

Where did my weekend go...for that matter, where has the week gone?

As per usual the weekend is gone and here we are, it’s already Wednesday and I’m looking forward to the next weekend.  It’s been snowing all week.  Come on mother nature!  You had all winter!

Friday night was a blur.  It usually is, we get home, eat dinner, do some clean up, etc. and crash from the long week.  I tried this recipe on Pinterest for Friday night, a whole chicken, BBQ sauce, lemons, onion and coke.  It was okay.  We let it cook on low from about 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and it was falling off the bones, but it wasn’t this great recipe I’d been led to believe by others on Pinterest.  I’d much rather just cook chicken in the oven with our favorite barbecue sauce, which is my own.  I mix together organic ketchup, real maple syrup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, a couple shots of worcestershire sauce, and the McCormick’s BBQ seasoning.  Every brand of BBQ sauce I look at has high fructose syrup as one of the main ingredients and I just figured I could make something that tasted better, which I have and we all enjoy it.

Saturday I spent a lot of time catching up on laundry and playing with my sweet baby boy.  He had a cold so he was not his normal happy self this weekend, but I did get some smiles out of him.  He’s so ornery, as soon as he has something he knows he’s not allowed to have he takes off running from wherever you are and giggles uncontrollably.  I love that freaking kid so much.  When Hubby got home from work we all cleaned up and went out.  We’re in the market for new Tupperware.  I decided I wanted the Rubbermaid Premier set in red, but I wanted the big set.  We’d found it on Amazon but wanted to see if we could buy it in the stores this weekend and nope, no one had it.   We did get Hayden an Adirondack chair in green that matches the ones we already have on our porch.  It’s just as cute as can be!  We also mosied around Target, but did good. We only bought detergent, lots of baby socks that were on clearance and some bath crayons.  After gift cards we only spent like $17.  We then went to dinner at Applebee’s.  We eat there way too much.  I got a steak with shrimp and Parmesan garlic sauce on it.  Yum.  We also got the pub pretzel sticks with beer cheese and honey mustard sauce.  So good.  After we got home we put the babe down for bed and watched This is 40.  I loved it.  Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd are some of my favorite people and though some parts were over the top (like their older daughter screaming “fuck” at them) a lot of it seemed like real life situations that play out in a marriage and family.

Sunday was family day.  We had a big breakfast of homemade pancakes with fresh blueberries and bacon, then got cleaned up and headed up to Cleveland to go back to the Children’s Museum, Hubby tagged along this time.  Hayden had a blast, again.  Of course I couldn't waste a trip going north without going to Trader Joe’s, even if it was completely out of the way!  I had to stock up on more cookie butter and wine.  Afterwards we tried to go to Golf Galaxy so Hubby could try out a new driver there but the line was ridiculous and Hayden and I were in the car while he snoozed, so we just ended up going home.

I’ve been working out in the mornings and it is working out so well!  By the time I get off work, or after Hayden goes to bed, I’m too exhausted to go do anything that strenuous.  It’s kind of like those pins I keep seeing on healthy boards that say “If you started running when you first thought about it, you’d be done already.”  So I get my workout in before I’d even normally be up and awake for the day.  The only drawback to this plan is I need to go to bed at a decent time, which is so hard!  After Hayden goes to bed I can lose myself in Pinterest or in a book for hours and not realize it, so I have to be so much more aware of what activities I do after he goes to bed.  One of us puts him to bed while the other cleans up toys for the 135,246,146^th time that day, then I come downstairs, make sure the dishes are done, things are set to go to either get lunches ready in the morning or pack them that night (it all depends on what we’re having, leftovers, something new, berries that I don’t like to wash the night before, etc.), wash my face, brush my teeth, then curl up in bed with the iPad for a half an hour or so before I’m so exhausted I just crash.

The rest of this week will be spent prepping for our overnight trip this weekend.  I need to get some junk out of the van (mainly that Adirondack chair in my backseat), get the seats folded down and get Hayden’s big stroller and pack’n’play situated in there.  Then pack a bag of toys for him, finish up the Easter baskets, get us packed, make sure there’s room for golf clubs…sigh and type up my plan for the dogs while we’re gone for the dog sitter.

I can’t wait to get down to Athens and enjoy the almost 60 degree weather!

We didn't take too many pictures this weekend.

At Applebee's, my husband cannot take a decent picture to save my life!

Goofing around in the tub.  He's got this new thing where he looooooves laying back in the water, where before he would freak if he got his hair wet even!

Just loving on his daddy!  He is definitely a daddy's boy.

Hayden's 1 year old pictures - Photo Book

Shutterfly had an awesome deal where they offered a free 8x8 photobook.  I couldn't pass it up, especially since I have had one sitting in my saved projects for Hayden's 1 year pictures.  I put it together and ordered it last night.  Now I just sit and wait!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Build your own high-quality photo books at Shutterfly.com.

Can I just have a break from reality?

I just feel so overwhelmed. So overwhelmed that I did something that some might think of as drastic, I'm taking a week long break from Facebook. I'm seeing things on there that I don't like and reminders of old friends and what they've done to me. It is constantly being thrown in my face, people may say I had it coming but that doesn't make it hurt less.

I want a break from everything. We're going on an overnight trip in February and a week long road trip at the end of March, they can't get here fast enough. The mistakes I've made in the past are just glaring me right in the face everywhere I look, including Facebook, work, etc. etc. etc. I just want move on and feel like I don't get a choice right now, it's not allowed of me.

Everyday all day all I want to do is be home laying on the couch with my hubby, playing games on our iPods together. I think this is a huge reason why I've decided to start making the plans towards quitting my part-time job. I need more free time in the evenings, at home with my husband. For instance, right now I could be sitting in my living room curled up with a book with my puppy while my hubby and his son play a video game in the same room, then I could pack meals for tomorrow, lay out clothes, not feel rushed in the morning.

Oh well, I'm working towards this, I guess it's not something that can happen overnight.

In other news I have all my meals planned out for next week (1/25 - 1/29). I plan meals for weeknights, make enough for lunch the next day for me, plan breakfasts and maybe plan meals for Saturday. Sunday night we always eat dinner at hubby's brother's house, Saturday we bowl or I work, so really I only have to plan 4-5 weeknight meals. With my Monday school schedule I'm having hubby just heat himself up something and eating a Lean Cuisine when I get home from school.

Monday - 1/25
B: Cheesed-up Pepperoni Scrambled Eggs (Hungry Girl recipe)
L: Lean cuisine
D: Lean cuisine

Tuesday - 1/26
B: Fiber One muffin and yogurt
L: Lean cuisine
D: Lemon Pepper Chicken and stuffed pepper (just filled with veggies)

Wednesday - 1/27
B: Cheesed-up Pepperoni Scrambled Eggs
L: Lemon Pepper Chicken and stuffed pepper
D: Ham & Spinach couscous and steamed lemon broccoli

Thursday - 1/28
B: Creamy hot apple with granola (Hungry Girl recipe)
L: Ham & Spinach couscous and steamed lemon broccoli
D: Cajun shrimp, corn and baked cauliflower

Friday - 1/29
B: Creamy hot apple with granola
L: Cajun shrimp, corn and baked cauliflower
D: Chicken, veggies and tortellini & spinach salad

Saturday - 1/30
B: Cinnamon roll, fruit and coffee
L: Chicken, veggies and tortellini
D: Snacks at wine tasting event - Something to look forward to! My sister-in-law and I go with a group of girlfriends to this every year. We have such a blast, for $25 you get 10-12 tickets to taste wines and a load of appetizers are there all evening. It is such a fun time and I'm glad I get to do this with this group of ladies, wish it was more often though!

Wake up!

Here's my snuggle buddy who hates having to get up early in the morning.

Spring is here! Or so we thought.

March is more than halfway over.

Wednesday was the first day of Spring.  Know what the temperature was?  27 freaking degrees.

It’s Friday and it’s snowing like a mother.  I’m so over winter.  My coat has about had it, I’m dying to pull out spring colors and just take Hayden outside to play.

I just can’t stop gushing about Hayden these days.  He’s at a stage where he is into everything, but he’s just so curious and wants to know everything about everything he can get his little hands on.  I can’t imagine or remember life without him.  This morning I was doing something in the kitchen and had a déjà vu moment back to something that happened in the summer of 2011 before he was born and I remember thinking I was home alone and then I thought, “Don’t be silly, Hayden was home too,” then I realized he wasn’t.  It’s like he’s always just been here and a part of our lives.

Life is just passing us by right now.  Things are happy and content.

Next weekend we are going to Athens to see Steven for Easter and stay at a hotel down there.  I can’t wait to go see him and get away for two days.  We are staying at a hotel with an indoor pool so Hayden and I can swim while the boys go golfing, then we’ll do dinner and brunch on Easter.

Last weekend I took Hayden to the Children’s Museum in Cleveland.  We had such a blast and I’m hoping to take him again this weekend.  It’s a great place to go and burn off his energy when it’s so cold outside.  Plus it gives me an excuse to stop by Penzey’s and Trader Joe’s afterwards, where I discovered cookie butter.  Where has this been my whole life????  We eat it on apples and pretzel sticks but I’ve heard it’s divine on waffles.

Here’s some pictures to share from Instagram.

Hamming it up with momma

 The cutest little boy there ever was.

My poor sweet boy after he got his 15 month shots.

All my boys playing video games (Hayden had his own controller but wasn't really playing).

Going out for BBQ

After Hubby's birthday dinner we came home and Hayden decided to read a book. My little bookworm.

Brothers just hanging out.

Cleveland Children's Museum

You're never too young to start reading Harry Potter!