Midyear Update

I haven't had much time for blogging lately.  The last few weeks (and months) have flown by in a flash.  I guess the title of my blog is holding true!  I wish we had more time to spend with our friends and family and catch up.  Hopefully soon, but in the meantime here is an update since my last post.

Brandon:  Has been so hard at work.  He is about to begin the 5th term of a 6 term MBA program.  This term is only 1 month long and will be over before we know it so we are truly finally reaching the end and there's a small light at the end of our very long tunnel.  Since his GATE (Global Academic Travel Experience) trip to China was cancelled he had the last 2 weeks off from school.  It was so nice to have him home to spend some much needed time with the girls and help me around the house.  I think we are all a little spoiled now and it will be hard to let him go back to his normal routine.

Caroline:  had her first week of 2nd grade last week.  She seems to love her new teacher and is so excited to tell me what she has learned everyday when she gets home.  She only has 14 kids in her class this year which is unheard of for public schools.  One of the reasons I love track 2!  We took this last month off of violin lessons, but she has learned 3 new songs during the break.  She is starting to play real songs and surprises me with her great ability after only 1.5 years of playing.  I'm starting to learn to read music in helping her practice each day so it's a learning experience for me as well.  She turns 7 next week so we are having 4 little girls and all our family come with us to a Durham Bulls game this weekend immediately followed by Caroline's first sleepover.  The countdown to Friday has already begun!

Summer:  Went to her first year of VBS last week.  She was a little shy and had a little trouble settling in each evening, but I could tell she had a ball.  She is very disappointed that she can't go again this week.  She'll begin preschool in the 3 year old class in about a month and can't wait.  In the meantime she is keeping me on my toes with dress up and wanting to learn to ride her scooter and bike as much as possible.

Bella:  Is changing daily.  I could write a daily blog just telling you all the things she does each day.  She is loving the summertime.  She has no fear of water or heights and tests my blood pressure everyday by trying new maneuvers in both.  She loves to point to or bring me things all the time to test her newly learned words.  Last weekend while the big girls were at VBS together she was home with Brandon and me all alone.  I think she would have loved being an only child, walking in the middle, holding both of our hands and getting our undivided attention.  Luckily, she was the youngest and won't have the deal with a younger one taking anymore of her time away!

Me:  I'm probably the most boring of the family.  I feel like I just try to keep up with the rest of them.  I have kind-of reached my July weigh goal that I set at the beginning of the year.  The number on the scale is what I had hoped for but the physical results are not.  I'm guessing I need to go a little bit farther than I had hoped for the results I'm looking for.  I hope to find a crossfit program once Brandon slows down with school.  I have done a few of those type workouts using the Bob Harper website and I really enjoy it.

I'll leave you with a few pictures from our trip to Carowinds over the weekend.  When we left in the morning to drive to Charlotte Caroline had no idea what that place was.  Each morning this week she has told me that she wished today was the day that she was going.

Caroline and Summer on the little roller coaster.  Caroline rode it 3 times (with her hands high in the air each time).  Summer rode it twice, but cried at the end of both rides.

Caroline and Summer riding the Snoopy airplane.  Summer could have done this the entire time and been happy.

The highlight of my trip!  Summer, Caroline, even Bella got to drive their own cars.

 Brandon and Summer riding the pirate ships, Caroline is in the boat behind them.  Caroline loved it, Summer, not so much.....

The girls in Snoopy's doghouse.

Me, Bella, and Caroline while Caroline drove the car around the park.

Brandon with Summer, Caroline and Snoopy

Better late than never

I feel lately that my blog posts have turned more into a diet diary than anything else.  I'm sure a lot of people find it odd that my weight-loss seems to be at the forefront of my mind in these last few months.  Unfortunately, I have found it hard for myself to not lose weight unless it is something that I think about everyday and plan everything I do around.  I'm looking forward to the day when I can just eat when I'm hungry, not completely avoid the treats my family is enjoying, and maybe even skip a workout if I would rather do something fun with the kids one day.  I'm so close.  This morning I finally hit my first weight-loss goal that I set at the beginning of the year.

It took me almost 2 months longer than I had hoped but I am finally down to my pre-pregnancy weight.  I know this is not a huge deal, many people are able to do this, some before they even leave the hospital.  The reason it is so exciting for me is because I lost 30 pounds to be at this weight prior to getting pregnant.  If I lose one more pound I am going into uncharted territory.  Since I was this size when I was 10 years old I literally only weighed less when I was in elementary school.  It also puts me only about 10 pounds from my ultimate weight goal.

You may also remember that I also set a goal for myself to run in a 10K by the end of the year.  If I'm being completely honest I don't think that is going to happen.  With Brandon in school and me watching 4 girls during the day I don't have much time for long runs, if any runs.  I usually can go for a nice jog once every other week by myself, which is not ideal for training.  When I do go out, I run farther and a few weeks ago Brandon did set me up for a 10K.  Caroline rode her bike, Brandon pushed the jogging stroller with the GPS and I ran.  In my defense it was just after a rain and the dirt path on the Tobacco Trail was a little mushy and I had to stop for cars when I crossed the street, but I did run the entire 6.28 miles.  It took me 1 hour and 9 minutes to finish with a tremendous amount of support from my husband (who by the way ran the entire way with me while pushing a double stroller and making sure Caroline could get her bike through all the gates).  If you are looking for a GPS tool, I love using the Map Your Run app on my Droid.  It's pretty simple and very accurate.  I may not make it into an organized 10K race this year, but I know it will be a definite possibility in the future.  I currently have my eye on a mud run for my next race.  It's a 5K in the mud and you and your team have to make it through all kinds of obstacles along the way.  I have a few friends that have done it and it looks like so much fun.

In the meantime I have been doing a lot of my workouts using the new Bob Harper website.  I was introduced to it by my sis-in-law, Melanie.  On the site Bob puts up new workouts every week so you can do different moves each time.  It is constant body confusion and I find myself to always be sore.  The workouts are only 20 minutes (I try to do 2 each day) so no one can tell me they don't have time.  He shows different moves if you are a beginner or advanced, and I love it because on the Team Bob workouts you feel like you actually have a trainer yelling at you to go faster and dip farther.  There is a $10/month charge (which I split with Melanie), but way cheaper than other options with similar results.

July was my next marker for my final weight goal.  It will be tough to make it by then.  At least I know that I'm giving it my all, and I'm so happy to be on my way.

New experiences with an Old Pastime

I used to be quite athletic growing up.  No matter what time of year I was always playing or watching some sport.  But I've never been much into professional sports.  I think the only professional game I've seen in any sport was when Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls played Muggsy Bogues with the Charlotte Hornets (am I showing my age?!).

Brandon loves to watch sports so I have gone to plenty of NC State, Duke and Durham Bulls games.  Although it's not major league a Durham Bulls game is a fun afternoon.  You can enjoy your foot-long hotdog and beer, watch a couple double-plays and maybe even get a suntan - what girl wouldn't love that?! Really I enjoyed it because it was some time to spend with my husband doing something he enjoys.

Last weekend we thought it would be fun to take the big girls to a baseball game.  We've learned our lesson in the past when Summer was about Bella's age that any event where you sit for long periods of time is not fun with an 18 month old.  So, Bella had her own personal date night with Grandad while Caroline and Summer joined Brandon and me for 9 innings.  At least we thought it was going to be nine innings.

We had spent all morning and afternoon that day at Caroline's soccer game, followed immediately by a cupcake fundraiser for Sixtyfeet.  We were so pleased that we somehow avoided all the storms headed our way.  So of course on the way to the game it started to pour.  Once we arrived the game was on delay so we spent way too much time in the gift shop trying on hats and explaining the difference between a baseball and a football.  We walked through the halls and finally decided rather than eat our dinner standing against a wall or on a dirty floor we would make a run for the Tobacco Road restaurant overlooking the ballpark.  Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea so we waited about an hour for a table.  The girls were so patient sitting in my lap in the one chair we could snag.  They played a video game on my phone and just enjoyed some time with Mom and Dad.  We finally sat down to a nice dinner with a great view of the field just in time to see them pull the tarp and warm up.

After dinner we headed to our seats.  It was still misting a little, but we were armed with loads of paper towels and two excited little girls.  Summer and Caroline's eyes were as big as saucers when we sat in our front row seats.  There was so much to take in with the players running around, the giant "cow" in the outfield, and the anticipation of a foul ball coming our way.  I was so glad to have dealt with the rain just for this one moment.  We only watched half of one inning, and part of it included the sprinkler system going off around the pitcher, but that time will be etched in my brain for years to come.

Finally the downpour began again, so we promised the girls a treat from the snack bar and headed for the car.  Their smiles continued all the way to their car seats when I handed them their giant bags of popcorn and bottle of Sprite for the ride home.  The game was cancelled in the 3rd inning so our tickets are good for another game.  We have already booked our tickets and I can't wait to try it again.

These days any game is a little less about the score and a little more about the experience.  It's so great to enjoy them together and we're counting the days until we can do it more often.

Let them eat cupcakes!

Last year about this time I was preparing for the hardest 20 months of my family's life. Brandon was about to start school and the girls were so little. I was ready to bunker down in my home and try to hide out until the end of 2012. Before it even started my sister asked me to get involved with the Cupcake kids. Although I was hesitant at first our sale completely changed me. Below is a blog I wrote about our experience that was first posted on thecupcakekids.org website and sixtyfeet.org website last year:

Last September my husband and I welcomed our 3^rd child into the family. Life with a kindergartner, a 2 year old, and a new baby became interesting. Our children now outnumbered us and we basically went into survival mode. We would say, “Do or don’t do whatever you can, just try to get to the next day alive!” Finally, our youngest daughter, Bella, reached the 6 month mark. She laughs and sits up. Her sisters love and play with her and we are finally feeling back to normal, at least for the next 4 weeks. In May, my husband will begin study at Duke for his MBA. For him, evenings will be for studying, weekends will be for classes, and I feel like I am preparing for survival mode again for the next 20 months.

While Brandon is in school, I will be at home with the girls pretty much all day and night by myself. I decided we would put off everything. I needed to make my life as simple as possible. No added stress to tip the already rickety boat. I just wanted to care for my children and support my husband, and call it a day.

My sister, Shelly, asked me if I would be interested in helping with a Cupcake Kids sale in our area to help raise money for Sixtyfeet. I thought it was a great project, but I certainly wouldn’t have time with 3 little ones at home and a husband that is studying most of the time that he isn’t already working. Maybe this is something I could help with in a year or two when the kids are older and school is over.

The problem with that is these children need help now! I needed to do something that taught my own children the importance of helping others and serving the Lord NOW. I realized I needed to step out of my comfort zone and make any difference I could, TODAY. I rounded up a couple of friends and their kids, and we set up a table in my neighborhood. I figured if we at least made back the money that we put into it I would be happy. But the Lord had much more in store for my little sale and my heart.

As I watched my shy little girl waving down the cars that passed by, people handing me all the money that they had in their wallets, and the neighborhood kids stopping by because they wanted to help, I realized we were doing way more than selling cupcakes. We were building a foundation in our children and our community to help those in need and doing it for the joy of the Lord.

I am happy to send the money we raised to Sixtyfeet and I’m so glad it will be able to help some of the children in Africa, but I believe they helped me so much more. Forevermore I will do all I can for my family and those I can help, no matter if it’s 20 months from now or tomorrow. Our life is a gift from God, what we do with it is our gift to Him. Don’t waste it by waiting for things to get easier.

James 4:13-15 - Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

It truly was a great experience, one that my girls loved and are dying to help with again this year. Today, I'm in the thick of those 20 months I was so scared about, but we are still giving it our all. This year the international cupcake sale is scheduled for May 5th. If you would like to set up your own sale and would like more information contact me or visit the website thecupcakeskids.org If you would be willing to help with mine (I still need lots of help) please let me know. Either way please come by and buy a delicious treat to support this great cause. If there is not a sale near you or you aren't eating cupcakes (like me) you can buy a virtual cupcake to donate to the program. http://www.thecupcakekids.org/cck/mysale.php?refid=1333459293. Thanks for your support and hope to see you on the 5th! More details to come soon!

Happy 1.5 Birthday Bella!

Today my baby is 18 months old. It completely blows my mind that we have reached this milestone as quickly as we did. The day she was born really just seemed like yesterday. I do love this age though. She can get around on her own, she feeds herself, is starting to communicate and potty training is just around the corner. She's no longer my easy baby. She knows how to hold her own with her 2 older sisters and is not afraid to express her feelings. She is crazy about baby dolls and loves to try to do everything Caroline and Summer are doing. Bella can be a little stubborn, but with her adorable little smile, big blue eyes, beautiful olive skin, and bouncing curls she can make just about anyone surrender to her needs. She willingly gives out hugs and kisses, and can be completely comforted as long as she can find the tag of her Baby Suzie and her two middle fingers.

If you recall at the beginning of the year I set myself a goal to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight by this milestone. I gained 50 pounds during my pregnancy with Caroline and was able to hit that goal by the time she was 18 months old. Since I only gained 30 pounds with Bella this goal should be a piece of cake. I would love to tell you that I crushed my goal and am only a few pounds from my complete goal weight, but I'm sad to report that I'm not even close.

I have lost 12 pounds from the beginning of the year, but that still leaves me short of my first goal for the year. I am completely disciplined during the weekday. By the time I'm washing the dishes from dinner I've usually only consumed between 900-1000 calories. On top of that I've spent my day chasing 3-4 little girls, and used their nap time for cleaning my house and doing either cardio or circuit training. The problems come in the evening. If I've had a bad day or the kids have pushed me to the point I want to pull my hair out, the first thing I want when I walk down the stairs after they are all snug in their beds is something sweet. The weekends also spell trouble for me. I have an extremely handsome husband that has worked hard to maintain his health. He should absolutely enjoy a treat or two over the weekend, but it does make it hard for me to not want to join him.

So, am I going to admit defeat and go back to being fat and happy for the rest of my life? No, this may take longer than I had hoped but I will get there. I've found a lot of tools to help me along the way. My buddy Angie recently introduced me to 2 websites that can help me keep up with my calories. www.fatsecret.com and www.myfitnesspal.com. Both of these have databases with the calories for almost all the foods you eat and even menus from restaurants so you can keep up with your daily count each day by entering it in on your home computer or even on your phone. I can even scan the barcodes on the packages of food as I am preparing my snack or meal and all the nutritional information is entered in automatically.

To keep up with my workouts I have found www.logyourrun.com and www.nikeplus.com very helpful. Nike + is programmed on my Ipod so all the information is entered as soon as I plug it in to charge each day without me doing anything. I like the Log your run site because I can enter in my elliptical workouts as well as my strength training daily. I'm also a huge fan of the Jillian Michael's books and workouts. She gives you this formula to help you figure out how many calories you should eat each day if you hope to lose weight. 655+(4.35 X the weight you want to be) + (4.7 X your height in inches) - (4.7 x your age). So for me 655 + (4.35 * 120) + (4.7 * 63) - (4.7 * 33) = 1318 daily. This of course is also based on the fact that you will be active and not just laying on the couch dreaming of the foods you wish you were eating.

I'll keep plugging along and let you know if I find anymore tools and tips. I hope I will have better results for you when I hit my next goal date in July. Good luck to those in the same boat. I know it's not easy.

MBA as I do......not as I say

A while back I was asked if I would be interested in blogging about the day to day experiences in the life of a family with an MBA student for Duke. I was flattered that they would ask me, a stay-at-home mom that wishes Facebook had spell check on it. After some consideration I decided I shouldn't add another task to my life. I feel stretched a little thin with our current situation and I didn't think it was fair to my kids to add something that would take even more time away from them. I also was worried about what my blog might include. Looking back on some of my posts here I realize I don't exactly paint the prettiest picture for an MBA family. Although this time in our lives is probably the hardest we have ever had (and ever hope to have) it's not all bad. I don't want to scare anyone that is possibly considering pursuing a similar degree.

When Brandon and I agreed that he should go back to school I figured it would be a lot of work. Some late nights, weekends away, and a lot of time on my own. I had no idea to what extent that would be until now. My plan for him to just slide by so that he can just get this degree and nothing more was not on his radar. At first I thought my husband was way more of an over-achiever than I ever realized. He has done exceptional well in all his classes. But as I listen to what he learned over the weekend or what his case study is about each week it became clear that he really does love this stuff. It's not about doing better than the guy sitting next to him (although that's nice), he's learning to do something he is extremely passionate about and make it a career. Isn't that what it is all about?!

People ask me all the time, "Don't you wish you would have done this years ago before you got married or had kids?" Really it took us this long to realize what really interests us. If Brandon would have gone for his masters before now it probably would have been in engineering and he would have just continued to dislike his job. If we would have started before kids, sure, it may have been easier, but I don't I think I would have admired all that Brandon was putting into this. I don't think he would have appreciated my efforts in helping him succeed. Before his first day of school I knew there would be a day somewhere along the line of this program where one or both of us snapped. We would reach a point where one of us hit our limit and would completely take it out on the other. It hasn't happened yet, and now I don't think it ever will. Every night we stand in awe of what the other did to get us through the day and there is no reason to complain. We both know how hard the other works and the sacrifices we are making now are so little compared to the future we are preparing for ourselves and our girls.

So go out and do it. Find what you want to do and don't let anything stop you. It's not going to be easy, what good things in life really are? Like they told us at my Duke weekend, you've got to keep reminding yourself this is a short-term sacrifice for a long-term goal.

February is not my diet's friend

I appreciate all the support everyone has given me with my weight loss goals this year. Believe me, it keeps me motivated to know that I have so many people behind me and I certainly don't want to let you down. Since the beginning of the year I have lost 8 pounds, and I am proud of that. Even better I have been able to add mileage to my runs and increase the intensity of my strength training. Last Friday Brandon was home so I was able to go out by myself and take a nice run without the stroller. I set my Ipod for 5 miles. I've only run 5 miles once before, but it was with Brandon and I wasn't about to give up after a few miles and hear him talk about it for the rest of my life. This time the only person to motivate me was myself (and the little lady that told me what mile I was on while I was listening to my music). I honestly don't think I would have gone the entire distance if I hadn't planned it on my tracker from the beginning. but when it was all over I was so happy that I did. I ran it better than I ever could have imagined and feel very confidant that I can reach the 10K race goal this year. Hopefully I can get out there for longer runs more.

This past month I have really kept up my calorie counting. It's very rare that I go over my 1300 count for the day. I've managed to plan ahead and eat light on the day that I know we are going out in the evening. I limit myself to one (if any) after-dinner snacks. This month, however, is going to be a rough one to keep this up. This weekend is the Superbowl. Sure, I can say all day long that I'm going to eat healthy while I watch the game (really the commercials). But Brandon has already said that his diet is off for the day, and it's pretty hard to enjoy your grilled chicken salad with lemon juice while the person next to you chows down on cheesy nachos and buffalo wings. I'm hoping to have some self-control, but Sunday will just be beginning.

My birthday is Tuesday. My sweet Dad has offered to take me and my family out to dinner that night to celebrate and Brandon is taking me out on a birthday date night on Friday. They both told me I could pick the place. Tuesday night has yet to be decided, but for my date night I picked An in Cary. I tried to be reasonable and not pick a place that specializes in their mother's famous fried chicken recipe or a 2000 calorie molten chocolate cake. I checked the menu and the options looked great, but I'm just going to be honest, if I'm paying over $100 for a meal for 2 you better believe I'm going to be licking it clean. And is it really your birthday without a cake? I thought about making myself one that would be light yet curb my craving, but making my own birthday cake reminded me of the time that I saw a movie by myself. I just felt like a complete loser. Maybe we'll just buy a single slice from a restaurant so I'm not eating on it for days.

Just when you think the worst is over 7 days later is Valentine's Day, and 3 days after that is Summer's 3rd birthday. We have a nice party planned for family and her friends. You know I decided to make her a personalized Minnie Mouse birthday cake. I'll try my best to resist the urge to test the frosting multiple times and hope to hang out more with the veggie tray than all the other kid-friendly goodies that I have planned.

We do have a few other events on the calendar, but hopefully they won't be as detrimental to my diet. Thank goodness this is leap year. I'm going to need the extra day to help me avoid major disappointment when I step on the scale in March!