do you burn calories when your boobs bounce?

So i worked out today! WOOT! I get a woot because i TOTALLY did NOT want to and my workout buddy was MIA so i had a GREAT reason not to, but i did! Tomorrow, not sure how that's going to go since it's supposed to sleet all day... guess i could get to know my wii fit again? boo....

So while i was breakin a sweat on the elliptical, while jamin hardcore to "baby got back" a thought crossed my mind while Sir Mixalot was talking about Kickin Curves as my "curves" were practically slapping me in the face, despite the two sports bras i was wearing... the thought was "I wondering if all of this boob bouncing is burning more calories then the girl with non-bouncing boobs (aka itty bitty titty club... not tie them in a knot club). I did a quick google search (that should look great on my government computer) and didn't find any answers. Makes you wonder though!

So I'm boycotting Weight Watchers right now because counting all of those points (or rather figuring out the points TO calculate, because honestly i can add 3 plus 10 but i have to figure out that it's 10 and well... i just don't want to anymore!). I also have a few friends (i know, shocking, stop the presses, i have friends), one is my accountability person (b/c she rocks and has lost a lot of weight and kept it off and looks awesome), another is my supporter (b/c she's awesome and always makes me feel better and awesome when i do something right) and then another is an encourager (because she's at work and needs to workout too). So hopefully with my team (God I'm sounding like Oprah, takes a team to help me lose weight!) I'll get there. Goal day? May 30th, beginning of swimsuit season... then hopefully I'll wreck all of my hard work by getting pregnant in July... but hey that's a full month of hotness, two really if you count that i won't know I'm pregnant until august and 4-5 if you count the fact that i shouldn't gain any weight in the 1st tri! see? totally worth it team!

side note: This morning at daycare, while i was pulling out all of Kinsley's things, she walked over to me with hands in the air. So i knelt down and she gave me a big hug and then turned around and walked to the other room to play! WHAT!?!?! My little girl is to little to be giving me "goodbye hugs"... i guess this is what they mean by teaching your child independence. UH!

here's some vintage K for y'all... oh my uterus!

Last few days? Crazy

So life takes on a WHOLE new meaning when you have a kid... obviously. But especially when you throw, full time working mom, daycare and snow into the mixture. You'll have a great routine down pat, everything is gravy, then snow happens. YEA, right? Not this time. THIS time daycare closed and work? No, not so much.

So apparently last year during snowpocolpis 2010, people complained that the Federal Government closed... i mean HOW DARE we close when there's 2+ feet on the ground, all the schools are closed and most of the daycares. HOW DARE we close if we can't get out of our neighborhoods or are without power. I know what you're thinking "All federal government workers don't live in DC?". The answer, NO! IT'S TOO FREAKIN EXPENSIVE TO LIVE THERE ON OUR GOVERNMENT SALARIES! So we live out in the boonies (because it's also a better place to raise children) where when it snows, we're snowed in often.

Oh, so back to what i was complaining about. Wednesday (public schools closed) Kinsley's daycare opened an hour late and closed FOUR hours early. Government? Closed 2 hours early, last minute... so if I hadn't already had to take leave would have helped me out a tad but once you take leave in the government, if they dismiss early, then you can't use that early dismissal towards not taking leave.

Thursday (public Schools closed), Kinsley's daycare was closed all day, government? two hour delay (which I don't get to claim, see above). Today (public schools closed), Kinsley's school opens an hour late, government? Open. Do you SEE how stupid this is?!?!? LUCKILY the hubs was able to help me out today, but now he'll be getting home LATE. UH!

So people, next time you complain about the federal government being closed, please think PAST the senators, etc and on to us little people!

Oh yeah, and side note, while I'm on this topic. We (the government workers) don't get a cost of living increase this year. We're actually on a pay freeze. Now while I understand senators and crappy "i don't do anything but go out to the loading dock and get drunk" federal workers not getting their pay increases, what about people like me? We don't get anything either. People who actually DO their job, who actually support a family... we don't get raises. That's pretty shitty. Know what else we DON'T get? Maternity leave. We have to accumulate our leave and hope we have enough to get us a decent about of Maternity leave. Once you've been with the government for three years you accrue 6 hours of annual leave and 4 hours of sick leave every pay period. That means in a given year I earn 19.5 annual leave days and 13 sick days. Pretty cool right? OKay, think about it like this. The average person will take 6-8 weeks of maternity leave in the US (which SUCKS! just ask a new mom). That means i need 30 to 40 days of leave accrued. I earn 32 days a year. That's only IF i NEVER get sick, IF I NEVER take a vacation, IF I NEVER have a doctors appointment, IF MY DAUGHTER NEVER gets sick or has her daycare open late, etc. riiight, do you see where I'm going with this? Virtually impossible. When I had Kinsley I was able to sign up for a donated leave program, since i didn't have enough leave. I was able to use my leave and then leave from kind people to get me to 6 weeks. Then the government decided i was medically fit to return to work. YEAH RIGHT! So then i had to take 4 weeks of leave WITHOUT pay to make it to 10 weeks, and then i went back to work (and it KILLED.ME!).

Now people, i'm VERY happy with my secure job, I'm VERY happy with where i work, etc. But when you're voting on some things... think of ME! Honestly i wish there were stricter evaluations in the government so we could get rid of the shitty workers, so we wouldn't be paying them to do nothing... but what about the people who are like my mother-in-law and work crazy extra hours, without getting paid for it, and are now not getting a compensation for that in the form of a raise/bonus, etc?

GAH! okay, i'm done... despite being home and using leave that i needed to be saving, I had fun with Kinsley and here i can prove it!

man she's getting so big!

side note: Snow days suck for  your diet too.

Reality has hit me...

My husband is in charge of our finances. He pays the bills and stresses over my spending. I keep our house stocked with food, supplies, and anything else i might find at Target (see the problem). See there are two things wrong with those sentences. 1. He pays bill and i spend 2. I go to Target (the death trap of all spending).

It has always been a very sore subject between us, my spending, especially at target. He complains that I'm spending too much money and i justify almost every dollar i DO spend. yea....

I've sat down before and been astonished about the sheer volume of what I've done, sure. I mean i don't go on shopping sprees to Couch or anything, but a couple of trips to Target a month, plus extra trips to the g-store for that special recipe i want to try, plus when i don't feel like cooking (even though we have a house full of food) and i order out, plus i found SUPER cute bows for Kinsley online to match the super cute dresses i found for a steal on e-bay.... are you seeing where I'm going??? So Chris finally REALLY hit a wall with me. He said, that's it, we're splitting the bills down the middle, etc. My jaw dropped and I stammered that he makes twice as much as me... to which he replied i spend twice as much as him... hmmm (well He actually said i spend everything and he spends nothing but that didn't sound quite as catchy). I didn't have an argument and i KNEW my spending was and has always been out of control so... I sat down and figured it out.

I made our budget (only necessities, no extras), spilt it down the middle and you know what? I don't even make enough to cover my half. yeah. Where HE makes enough to cover EVERYTHING. So basically i COULD technically be staying home with my daughter but i can't because i can't control my spending. It's no longer a matter of we need at least part of my paycheck to pay our bills, it's now Only.My.Fault. I am the reason that i can't be a stay at home Mom. I'm the reason that we can't fix up more of our townhouse. I'm the reason we can't plan a vacation. It's ALL.My.Fault.

That was and is a HUGE pill to swallow. How did I get here? I'll tell you how... when I'm sad, lonely, feeling fat, etc I spend. Is Chris going to be home late, again? Fine, I'll go to Target. Does it hurt to zip up those pants that fit last week? Fine, I'll go to Target. Are my friends busy this weekend? Fine, I'll go to Target. NOT.GOOD!

So now, I'm trying to step back and move forward with this knowledge. The knowledge that my husband has stayed with me despite the fact that I'm selfishly spending all of our money (and no he's not late getting home because of overtime... he's salary) and lying to myself about it.

Forget losing weight and keeping my house cleaner as a new years resolution. My resolution is to save what i have destroyed. I WILL stop spending and whatever additional money i make with selling Thirty-One I WILL put right back into my Family's pocket, not my own. My husband deserves better than this, he deserves better then what I've put him through. I can't change the past or fix what I've done... but i can change the future and let him know that I've finally heard him and am truly, deeply sorry.

Do they have a little gym for Adults?

Oh i guess that would be a real gym... but real gyms don't have bubbles, etc!

Little gym is one of Kinsley's favorite places. She could be having a terrible morning and all i have to say is "do you want to go to Little Gym?" and it's like i handed her the golden tickets, we're all of a sudden smiles and rainbows! lol. This week at little gym there was "graduation", which is weird since she'll still be in the same class but whatever. Grandma and Daddy made it out for the class! While Daddy's pictures were, eh, Grandma got much better ones, so hopefully i'll have those to share later! But here's what i have!

She LOVES flipping over the bars!

 She's really learning how to come DOWN steps now without having to turn around. She's getting so big!

 I love it when she's crawling up something and it's JUST too high so she has to really work for it... do you see that dimple? Oh GOD i hope she doesn't lose it, i lurve chomping on it!

 Here she is ignoring all balls since the BUBBLES are coming! She's waiting so patiently! Such a big girl! (I didn't want to throw people's kids on here that i don't really KNOW without their permission)

Well if would go for as long and hard as Kinsley does at her gym at MY gym then MAYBE i wouldn't have gained 2 pounds this week... or maybe it was the burgers...

blog rolls

You know, those things on the side of a blog that advertise which blogs you lurve! I don't think i'm on anyones...
Now before you get all "Gezz Erin ANOTHER pitty-party" on me let me vent a second. Even though i know this is childish and this is not a game of dodge ball that i'm being picked last for and there aren't a row of Heidi Klum look alikes standing in a line laughing at me... BUT I WANT TO BE LIKED! lol. I don't do this blog just for the readers, even though who am i kidding, I LOVE YA'LL!

But regardless of the reasons, it's still hard to look through others blogs and not see me there...

Will childhood insecurities EVER go away?

Wow, things are changing!

Things are changing so fast in our lives right now and I'm finding it hard to keep up! For one, Chris is with a new job. While I LOVE his new job, the opportunities it's giving him, and the people he works with... (i know you feel the BUT) it's brought us back to an old familiar place again. He's working and I'm doing EVERYTHING. I wouldn't be AS pissed about this if he would be out of the house before I came downstairs. See here's the situation...
Man gets up AFTER me.
After I get myself ready I get Kinsley ready
I get our stuff ready
since I'm downstairs first (getting our stuff ready) i also have to get the dogs fed, etc
and the coffee made (since i always forget to do it the night before)
then 9 times out of 10, I take Kinsley to daycare and go to work.
At work I workout on my lunch, since I know it's not going to happen at home.
I pick K up from Daycare
Battle the dogs to get into the house
Feed dogs (give K a snack too) and let them potty
Try to comfort a pissed off toddler that keeps getting 1. Knocked over by dogs or 2. snack taken by dogs
try to have dinner ready before meltdowns ensue.
Feed her, give her a bath, brush teeth, rock and into bed.
Then it (should be but often isn't) is time to clean up, check emails,
work on my new Thirty-One Business (which i just closed out my first party and made $150! WOOT)
Oh yea, Hubs is home... so pay attention to him (get off the phone and computer and turn off DVR)... be happy and interested in his job and day so he doesn't dread coming home from work... try to be sympathetic to his 2 hour commute even though I get NO sympathy for doing EVERYTHING ALONE!...
Go to bed

So see in MY head if he would leave by 6am (rather then 630) like he USED TO... then he could start the coffee, deal with the dogs, get to work by 8ish. leave work by 430ish. be home by 6ish for dinner and then help with the bedtime/cleanup routine and we would all live happily ever after while he gets on his iPhone to keep checking email and I work on Thirty-One.

Yet instead the original schedule continues and he wonders why I'm a cranky, pissy wife....

Anyway, another thing changing? KINSLEY! OMG why didn't anyone tell me that babies grow up?!?!? I thought she was going to be my cute little bundle forever!

 She so grown up now. She INSISTS on having her food with HER to feed HERSELF. She gets mad if i break her cereal bars into pieces... she likes to take bites off of it. She marches/stomps/etc. She shows you her pretty clothes. She says "shhhhhhu" which means shoes. She hugs around the neck know, wrapping her tiny hands around my neck and holding on for dear life and melting my heart. She likes you to chase her. She tells the dogs "BA, BA" when we get get home ("back" for those who don't speak toddler). She likes to point out your nose because she thinks it's a horn~

She's so big! God i love her!

Weekly weighin!

Yeah i lost 3.4 lbs. SQUEEE~

Can I reprimand your child?

So this morning as i was driving into work they posed the question "Can I repramand your child? And if I can in what situations can I?". They were posing all sorts of sernarerios from in your own home (the child comes to your home and is running a muck) to a restaurant, to a store. Then factors were added in on whether the child was with you (their parent was eating lunch with you) or if it was a complete stranger.

Now I know there's going to be MANY points of view on this but here is mine.

Is my child miss behaving? Not just pissing you off but REALLY miss behaving? Is she talking back, breaking things, being mean? If your answer to the question is yes, then HELL YEA discipline her! I mean give me a chance to first but if I'm not around or didn't see, etc, then handle it BY ALL MEANS! As much as I try to stay on top of things with my child, I might have my back turned when she whacks your child over the head with her play frying pan. If she does tell her "NO" and make her apologize and bring it to my attention. If I'm not around, throw her in time out yourself!

Kinsley will grow up KNOWING to respect ALL adults and to listen to what they say. I will teach her what is right and wrong so if something is amiss with that adult hopefully she'll have the knowledge to come to me and ask, but bottom line, it takes a village sometimes.

That's what i think is often wrong with our youth today. Their parents are teaching them that no one else has to be respected. Many parents send their children off to school expecting the teachers to be "parents" to their child, yet when the teacher steps in to discipline a child for being bad the parents gets all Parentzilla on the teacher because how could she POSSIBLY think to discipline HER child! Well HER (the parentzilla) child was being a little turd because the Momma is a turd and she learned that she can be a turd because nothing will happen, because if something DOES happen then her Momma will come down and raise hell so that the teacher is then scared to ever discipline again! So then the classroom will be in utter disarray, no one will learn, the test scores will go down, and then no one will get into college, we'll blame our "bad" teachers, when the problem is the Turd of a parent that refuses to back a teacher up when she's trying to do what the parent won't do!

WOW, i didn't realize i had that much passion in me about this! But yea, i want Kinsley to know that if she does something bad that her teacher/relative/family friend WILL take action. Whether it's timeout right then and later they will tell me what happened so that i can have a talk with her about what happened. Or they'll just tell me later so then i will take action at home. I want her to be good all of the time for fear that I will find out and she will then lose her baby doll/Wii/telephone (or whatever she's into at the moment) privileges. But i also want her to  know that when i hear she's done something good (share, helped a friend, made a good grade, made a responsible decision) that i will praise her and if it merits it, reward her (hell yeah if my kid sticks up for someone being bullied i will reward her with something freaking awesome so she'll be like, SWEET lets do it again... i mean unless that "sticking up" was fighting, then maybe I'll just pat her on the back and have a talk about using our words rather then our fist, lol).

So bottom line in my book, if Kinsley comes to your house and is trying to break something or beat your kid because they looked at her baby doll wrong. Tell her No and put her in timeout. It's OKAY! I promise. AND I'll be HAPPY to do the same for you!

Being a stay at home mom is SOOOO HARD

No i didn't lose my job, it was a government holiday! YEA! So Kinsley's daycare was also closed! So we had a Mommy-Daughter day! And I'm freaking tired! Yeah here's a run down of all we did today

1. A million loads of laundry (or at least 6)
2. Picked up the kitchen, a few times
3. at 3 meals and 2 or 3 snacks
4. took two naps (thank the dear dear lord)
5. had a dance party
6. marched like soldiers
7. Had a few bubble parties
8. threw baby dolls around in her tent
9. read a few books
10. made animal sounds and pointed out our body parts CONSTANTLY (we need to be up to par at the 15month apt!
11. had a melt down
12. cuddled a lot
13. Got lots of around the neck hugs (i didn't know she did this yet!)
14. had a few wrestling matches (yea she kicked my butt)
15. did a some Thirty-One stuff.

oh man... I'm dead! Keeping up with a toddler, trying to clean, trying to put laundry away, and work on my new consultant job, and who knows what else... I'm tired!

Y'all i know I've always talked about wanting to be a stay-at-home Mom, and i still do, and I'm sure it's a little different if you're doing it every day because you're maybe more prepared, etc... but i KNOW it's not any less exhausting! WOW.

Hats off to YOU stay-at-home Moms!

PS, while Kinsley was sitting on the counter helping me cook, she decided it was a good idea to try the raw chopped onions... and she KEPT eating them... weirdo!

Kinsley

Has another tooth, yet still no molars, even though they look like they can bust through at any moment, though they might have, she won't let me in her mouth to see, i saw the previously mentioned tooth because, well, it's in the front and i make her laugh deep belly laughs because, beside the fact that it makes my heart smile, i can see her teeth... i love to count them! yes we watch a lot of sesame street... hence the obsession with counting...

The hubs took her to school TWO days this week! Stop the presses! I know! How fabulous. On the bad note, he's been getting home pretty dern late. So i told him if he's getting home late no matter what he can do morning duty with Kinsley~ Worked 2 mornings!

I have to say though that I'm selfish. I LOVE getting to pick her up. I'm sad if I'm not the one to pick her up. Knowing that you got to make her smile so big you might just get a peek at the molars makes my heart smile!

Oh and no more bottles for us! YEA! Kinsley has not had a bottle in the morning (that was our last to go) ALL week and it's actually better! She stays asleep longer, i think because she know even if she does wake up, it's not coming!

Kinsley can also sign "please", sort of, and "eat", in addition to her other words (finished, thank you, more). The problem is when we are on the way home from daycare and she wants to fill up on cereal bars but I'll only allow her one and she's in the back seat flapping her arms for take off as she goes through every sign she knows in hopes that one of them will get her another cereal bar, but it won't because I'm a mean Momma that wants her to eat her dinner so then she cries, while staring me down. Awesome.

Kinsley is a pro a kisses too, whether it's giving them or blowing them.... love her!

Now if that wasn't a good enough update with long enough run-on sentences, then i don't know what you want from me!

Days like today make it hard...

A day like today, Friday, the end of the week. I'm SOOO tired, i just want to relax, i just want to take it easy AND I'm reading a book that I'm REALLY in to... Days like today make it hard to go and workout at lunch when ALL i want to do is shut my office door and read my book during my lunch break.

But i can already see a slight difference in my body. I mean when it's been as long as it has for me since i last REALLY worked out and ate right AT THE SAME TIME, you see mini gratification moments. LIKE some bloat is gone and i can tell that my belly and boobs are in fact two SEPARATE (well technically three, but you know what i mean) lumps on my body, not just one continuous lump! My jeans that were hurting me two weeks ago only slightly hurt today! And mostly I'm freaking proud of myself! That's a difference that i don't want to lose!

OMG I can't breathe!

i know, dramatic much? I am back from the gym where i walked/jogged for 25 minutes and then did a circuit of weight machines, going back and forth between my upper and lower body so i never took a break and now I'm very.very weak. BUT i did it! that's 3 days this week I've worked out! GO ME! I can just feel that fat dripping off of me... okay not really. Is it bad that i wanted to destroy government property (the mirror hanging on the wall in front of my treadmill)? I'll be feeling so good about myself and then i get to watch as my thighs jiggle and rub together and my shorts creep up into a very uncomfortable looking crotch wedgie while the sweat pours down my face and my boobs which are now a single boob in my sports bras, bounce so hard I'm practically getting slapped in the face with each step... so yes, Uncle Sam, if you notice a broken wall of mirrors, it was me. Though knowing my luck, they would just leave the broken ones up and we all know what a broken mirror looks like, rather then one of you there will be a hundred of you. AND who really wants to see a hundred uni-boobs slapping me in my face while i dig out my crotch wedgie?

But hey, at least i worked out!

My uterus hurts!

It feels like a big empty black hole right now that I NEED to fill! Last night i went to the hospital to visit my bestie and her new baby boy! OMG! I forgot how tiny they are, how they love to curl up on you, how they smell SOOOO good, how when they stretch in their sleep their little eyebrows raise with the strain of it.... OMG! The goal is to wait until later this year to start trying for number two but MAN that little guy is making it hard!

But i have priorities people and not just filling up the ol' uterus. I have weight to loose! I've been going to the gym at lunch, eating healthier (hey last night i got a salad at McDonald's... yes it had the Fried chicken BUT i used my OWN fat free dressing at home! and NO quarter pounder!), and joined my work's biggest loser club (actually i started it too!).

Another priority? I'm going to be a 31 consultant! I'm so excited because I LOVE this stuff! I mean how CUTE is this???

And the quality is awesome! I LOVE it! So if you or a friend wants to host a party either at your home or a catalog party (since not all of y'all live in Maryland) then give me a shout because the new catalog that is coming out in February is AMAZING! I'm SOOO excited about it!

Mixed emotions

So this morning i woke up and took a look in the mirror and wasn't completely disgusted with myself. That's a HUGE improvement. I mean I cringe at the thought of naked time with the hubs because if i can't stand see myself naked, how can he? Well this morning wasn't too shabby. I mean i have a LONG LONG way to go but i can kind of see the stomach roll becoming more of a barrel then a hanging basket!

But then this morning at work, I weighed in. 171.8. Dum dum dum. Yeah, i know... i know. So that's where I'm at, good morning in the mirror, terrible morning on the scale. Awesome. BUT i did better (again not great) with my eating last night so there's one small step for Erin!

On other news, I'm already thinking of what to do for Kinsley's 2nd birthday... I know she JUST turned one... I'm not setting anything in stone BUT i would like to do something along the lines of a baby doll theme since she's well, OBSESSED. Thing is that she'll have little boys there too... got any ideas that can help my wheels turn?

Finally the birthday photos you've all been waiting for!

Welcome to Kinsley's Birthday party. It was Sesame Street Sassy! We have these amazing friends that have a huge shop that they allowed us to have Kinsley's Birthday Party in, since it was December and we had like 50 people come, it was iffy where it was going to be... but we have awesome friends.

So welcome to Kinsley Street!

Want to stop and color in Elmo's world?

Dorthy wouldn't have DREAMED of missing this occasion!

Drop your gift off at Big Bird's Nest!

Then come on over to Cookie Monster's Cafe for Pizza, fruit, and sweets of all kinds!

Just grab a hat and a bag and take your fill!

Pick any cupcake you prefer!

Enjoy some sweet tea, juice, or a Kinsley water!

Then visit Oscar in Grouchland and play in the soybeans!

Not enough candy on the candy bar? No Problem we have a pinata!

Oh here comes Elmo with the cake! YEA!

yum yum yum

Such a sweetie!

Aunt Jessie and Uncle Dan

Abby even brought her Flying Fairy School out for everyone to "fly" in!

And of course Kinsley's boyfriend couldn't miss this!

But she was keeping her options open!

Such an awesome family! I would have never been able to do this without them!

in the end, she's still Momma's girl!

Kinsley's party was magical. All of the details really came together amazingly. I had two GREAT friends that took photos for us the whole time so that we could just enjoy ourselves. One of them was Skidmore photography. Go to her site and check her out, she is SOOO talented and i was floored when she gifted us the photos! Total dream come true!

Just another Manic Monday

Yea and i can barely lift my fingers to type this... why? because i did weights for the first time in YEARS, which means my arms are like jelly so every time i try to lift my fingers to type i have to slightly move my arms which then feels like Santa's belly (and I'm guess shakes like it too, hey it's only been ONE weight session) jiggling all over the place. But at least I did it.

I have mixed emotions about this weekend. Some things went really well (got to organize more of my house, play a lot with Kinsley, entertain some) and other things weren't so good (hubs and I fought, a lot. I was up coughing a lot each night = no sleep, I didn't make it to church and i ate terribly). When things are not good emotionally for me, i eat. I'm an emotional eater. Not because the food makes me feel better... even though sometimes it does... i just get lazy when I'm emotionally disconnected and don't want to eat anything that takes time to make so i throw some chicken nuggets in the oven and chow down! Chicken nuggets make me happy.

But i was reminded by one very important fact this weekend... my neighbor friends are awesome! During the last few years Chris and I have been getting to know our neighbors better and man, I've got some really great girlfriends in them! They are all so supportive and caring and they really relate to anything i might be going through at the moment. I'm so happy and sad at the same time when i think about them. Happy because they are awesome and they are MY friends... sad because we all live in townhouses and will be moving into single family homes one day, which will more then likely NOT be in each others neighborhoods.... tear.

Well hope y'all are doing better then me, send me your tips for how not to fail horribly on the weekends because those are just never good for me.

what is UP with some clothes

So there's this clothing blog that i LOVE to frequent even though NOTHING is ever in my size. I ordered a pair of white jeggins from it hoping that MAYBE... but no... not even close... they are now in the "inspiration" pile. Well she has a pair of jeans on there for sale that are a size two. Yeah i rolled my eyes at that too... then i saw the other measurements of the jeans... leg opening 15 inches! DOOO WHAT?!!? Really?!?!

I've been know to pray that MAYBE i could lube up my legs and squeeze them into a 19" opening (even though my thighs would eat that 19" for lunch) but 15!!! I mean do you KNOW how small that is!!! I think my kid's head is bigger then that! AND SHE'S ONE! WTH!

So since i didn't work out today BECAUSE i went to lunch with my mother-in-law and ate 4 onion rings, i'm going to end this blog before i pick up my water bottle, which just happens to be 15" around, and throw it through the computer since she is WEARING said size two jeans, QUITE comfortably... bitch (except she seems very nice).

There's a WHOLE LOT of Ugly up in here!

Alright, you want what we're dealing with, no gut sucking in at all???

Here ya go, don't say i didn't warn you!

yea... so i wanted to take a REAL before picture, no hiding the gut, which is REALLY hard to do. It's like my gut is an ostrich head and the camera is a predator and whenever my gut sees this predator it hides... it's automatic to suck it right in. So as you can see i have some work to do... BUT it can only get better... right???

At work my coworker and i have started a Biggest Loser group. We will be loosing for the pound for pound challenge AND trying to win some cash! This all starts on Monday so since I'm heading it up, lets hope i can set a good example!

Biggest... something

So i LOVE to follow other blogs, they give me great ideas, advice, and support! I've been TRYING to find some good weight loss blogs, you know by REAL women. I don't want one that's all recipes. I don't want one that has someone who is already there, and i don't want one with someone who is like me (always giving up). I need one WITH pictures, I'm visual... i don't like reading blogs that never have pictures, call me stuck up, it's okay.

I've also been having this staleness lurking around my blog like expired milk and i know why now... there are only so many times i can tell you about Kinsley's snotty nose and poopy diaper before I even feel like it's getting old. I mean SEEING pictures of her is never boring but some of my topics are well, lacking. So I decided I needed to get back into the passion of my blogging by writing about something I'm truly passionate about, at least at the moment... getting back into shape and loving my body. No i don't want to be her:

Mainly because my boobs enjoy being near my ankles and my thighs get lonely unless they are touching... BUT maybe i can get to this level:

I kid I kid... I'm thinking:

Notice the curve of having a butt and the jugs (that i will have to find a miracle bra to create), yet a pretty rocking waist and arms! That's what i want... fit yet woman! ROAHHHH!

So I'm going to blog about what is always running through my mind, MY WEIGHT! My attempt at loosing it and my feelings about it. I will still show you my darling little butter bean, since she is HUGE motivator in this journey and because, well, she ROCKS!

So here's the journey, this is where it begins. AND this time it will end, happily!

What's up 2011!

So this year is going to be filled with AWESOMENESS!
1. Chris and I will celebrate 10 years together, 5 of which will have been married! Um i think that calls for Diamonds, LOTS of diamonds, No?

2. Chris is starting a new job as a COO! For those of you who aren't in the know, or are as smart as me that means Chief Operating Officer, shay important!

3. We will most likely start trying to get pregnant with number 2... not sure when yet... NOT anytime soon, but I'll let y'all know when it happens!

4. TWO of my neighbors and my BFF in MD will be having babies this year! Woot! And hey, there's still time to get knocked up and have more baby having people!

5. Chris and I already have gotten a start on the house fixing up!

6. I will jog the 10 mile Cherry Blossom again!

7. Kinsley will have a second birthday (hello planning, yes i know i still owe you pictures).

8. I will try to start my new business (party planning, party decorating, party consulting... blah blah blah, I'll let you know).

Some of these are more of resolutions (hello #6 and #8) but they are real things that WILL happen so i don't per see them as a "goal" but a milestone that will happen.

SPEAKING of goals... here's what I'm working on... oh and if you have any tips, hints, suggestions to make any of these work... PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!! NO seriously! i need anything y'all can give me, because frankly, I'm the QUEEN of good ideas that never pan out.

1. Loose 30 lbs before i get pregnant with number two. that would put me at around 135-140 (depending on the day).
i will try to attempt this with: Weight watchers and the gym in the basement of my workplace.

2. Put my things away the FIRST time

3. Keep a cleanisk house

4. Eat more organically, especially for Kinsley

5. Attend Church at least 2-3 Sundays a month

6. STOP over spending, maybe then i could get my house fixed up, GEZZZ

7. Finish the basement, repaint the kitchen and half bath, paint our bedroom, paint Kinsley's bathroom, Paint the rest of the house, Get new floors for the main level, put up wainscoting in the dinning room and 1/2 bath, and curtains everywhere!

8. Be a better wife

9. Take more time to just have fun with Kinsley

10. Be better about my blog

11. Get a sponsor to send me to BlogHer2011~!

I think that will do for now... yes? What are your goals? How do you plan on accomplishing them?

Oh my blog, how i have missed you!

So rather then taking WEEKS to catch you up on everything I'm going to grace you with an extremely long post. That way we can start fresh this new year!

We took a brief break from blogging to enjoy our family over the holidays. Chris and I were BOTH off from work and went to my parents house in NC for a WEEK! Oh it was awesome... the car ride with 2 dogs and a baby for 8 hours... left much to be desired, but it wasn't too bad.

Then we got back and dove right into cleaning because the neighbors all came over for new years eve~! Then it was off to the in-laws for a second Christmas, and then back to our house to try to arrange our Toy R Us Christmas stash in a way that would be conducive for walking.

But enough of that boring stuff, I'm here to show you a picture journey of the last week!

This was the night before we left... Kinsley and i have figured out how to make her hair into a Mohawk! Sweet!

Once we got to my parents we had to put food out for Santa's reindeer!

And food out for Santa. At our house Santa prefers a beer... but we put milk there too just in case he brought an elf to help.

What a sweet girl!

Sadie was a little tired after the 8 hour trip to Sasha and Papaw's house!  

While there we worked on learning "nose, eyes, mouth, TEETH TEETH! OWWW!" Kinsley has 7 teeth and FOUR MORE trying to come in... awesome.

Then it snowed. In NORTH CAROLINA! FOR.CHRISTMAS ya'll! okay so it was the day after Christmas but still! WHOA! My parents got like 3 inches at least! That's HUGE for them!

Kinsley was intrigued.

Not really understanding why we're walking around in this...

"Look Momma, i can't put my arm down!"

"Oh so this is what all that fuss was about! How much fun!"

Kinsley's first snow angel!

So, our Alma Mater was also in a bowl game! WOOP! We knew we had to watch it with some good friends!

These are two of Chris's good friends from college, Mike Rowedy and Casey Woody.

 My northern cowboy and i

 This is Woody. He hunts. He films hunts for big timers on the hunting/outdoor channel and he's starting his own show. He is even on Monster Bucks! (for those of  you with husbands that hunt, ask them what Monster bucks is... they'll be impressed). So this is what he does EVERY.TIME. we see him... shows us his latest footage. He likes to brag share his fun with the ones that haven't gotten to hunt in a few years appreciate the awesomeness of it. So when he's bigtime this is proof that we knew him when!

 Here's him and his awesome woman Baily. This is a terrible picture of her and she's still beautiful! hate her for that. But she's sweet so I'll forgive her for being stunning.

 Then we went home and woke up to Momma doing this to Kinsley... she LOVED it.

 After another 7 1/2 - 8 hour journey home we got unpacked and enjoyed new years with the neighbors. Then we went over to Grandma's house for another Christmas!

Kinsley got this (along with the rest of Toys R Us)... She LOVES it. It's a PITA to put together, just FYI, took me and two engineers an hour to put it together. Yeah, not fun.

 But worth it!

 Once we were back inside waiting for dinner to finish up Kinsley decided she didn't want to wait and i caught her here:

 Since we're such awesome parents we forgot her travel highchair so we used pillows and sat her in a big person chair. WITH a plate! WHAT!?!? Yes we did! And you know what... she did GREAT! Give my child mashed potatoes and everything is gravy (pun intended).

Kinsley's hair has been getting longer (shocking i know, imagine hair GROWING), I've even been able to try an attempt at a ponytail here and there, i mean she looks more like a firecracker with a fuse sticking up, but it's cute... this morning i decided to try pigtails!

Chris calls them horns, i call them awesome!

So glad to be back! Missed ya'll! And Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!