Some good news...

Back in December, I went to see my thyroid doctor for my every 6 month check up. Normally, I have to see the nurse practitioner b/c I wait to long to try to get an appointment with the actual MD. But not this time. They told me to call in September and I started calling on 9/1. I finally got an appointment and went before Christmas. She brings the idea up to me to start weaning me off my Synthroid. We'd never tried since I had been done nursing (and partly b/c I'd only seen the nurse practitioner the last time I was there--back in May). She told me to get through the holidays and then start weaning the pill to every other day, then get my levels checked in 2 weeks. I got the blood work done last week and got a letter in the mail on Wednesday that I could completely STOP taking Synthroid and she will re-check my levels in 4 weeks!!! Isn't that AWESOME news?!?!? Do you realize that most people take Syntroid for the rest of their lives once they get on it?? I know I am extremely lucky and I feel so blessed. I'm hoping that my body will adjust to not having the meds quickly and maybe, just maybe, it will help me lose weight to not have the meds??? I don't know but either way, I am thrilled!

My baby is now 21 months old. How did that happen?!??! We are quickly approaching his 2nd birthday (and big brother's 6th birthday!). I still can't believe it. DH is bugging me for #3, but for now, I am done. I do not want any more children at this point in my life. Life is crazy-busy with 2...I can't even begin to imagine throwing a 3rd one into the mix!

Training for the half-marathon in May has started. I want to be ready for this run but I feel like I can't make any head way in my training. I feel like I'm not doing enough...then there are times where I think I'm doing too much. DH keeps warning me of over training but at this point, I just want to feel like what I am doing is the right thing. I wonder how I can get faster? I'd like to be able to do an 11 minute mile, but at this point that's a pretty lofty goal! But I will stick with it and keep going and training. The training run that I am going to do in preparation for this is in March and it's a 10K (roughly 6.2 miles). I'd love to be able to complete that in a little over an hour or so, but we'll see. I have 100 days until the half--Oh boy!

In weight loss news, there is not much to report. First WI of the new year (1/9/10) down 4#, the following week--down .2, last week up .3, and I don't hold out much hope for this week. It's been a very snack-y, lazy week for me. I'll pull it together this week. I have a plan for this week, so hopefully that will work out for me!

Okay, I'm off of here now...gotta get to bed. 5 AM comes WAY too early....

Happy 2010!

Happy New Year!!!

I love January. Fresh start to a new year, new month, new ME! I got back on the workout wagon last week. I got in 4 days and am on track to get 5 days this week (week runs Friday to Thursday). I also tracked my food and saw a 4# drop on the scale. The holiday weight is almost gone...now on to the other 35# I want to lose. This is it. I am going to do it this year. I am going to RUN that half marathon in May if it kills me. :) Okay, so not literally but I will finish it and I will run across that finish line! I want to do another half marathon in October too so that will keep me running throughout the summer.

I have some other goals for 2010 that aren't weight related. I'm going to take better care of myself. I'm going to spend more time on myself...doing this will help me be a better wife and mother. This past Saturday, I got up early (to an ALARM--a sin in my book) and worked out, headed out to weigh in at a Saturday morning meeting grabbed Starbuck's and came home. It was a GREAT start to my day. There are little things that I am doing too...making sure I brush my teeth AND floss every night before bed. All these little things are going to add up and make me a better person. I'm learning that taking time for myself is VERY important!

DS2 has been sick this past week and it's been rough! All he wants is momma and I'm trying to cater to him. Makes it hard but I've still been taking care of myself. I went to bed right after he did last night b/c I was so exhausted (mentally and physically) from the day. I'm trying to remember that I will miss this age eventually. I may not LOVE it right now but he lets me hold him and cuddle him anytime I want. Eventually he won't want anything to do with me and he'll do anything to get away from me. :) For now, I will cherish these times.

I think that's enough from me for now...I'll check in again after I weigh in this week! :) Which, BTW, is changing. I'm going to my meeting on Thursday night, but my 'official' (to me anyway...LOL) weigh in is going to be at my scales on Saturday mornings. This way, I don't go hog wild on Thursday nights and I can enjoy the one meal out that we do each week. So far, it's working well for me. We'll see how it goes.

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I did it!

I signed up for the half marathon on May 8...AND I signed up to RUN it!

WhatthehellwasIthinking?!?!?!?!

Deep breaths....calm down....

Ahhh....

Yep--I did it! My sister signed up with me so I will have a partner in crime when I cross that finish line. I hope I can do it. I'm going to try my hardest that's for sure. A friend of mine ran one in our hometown back in October and she wants me to do one with her in April down there--an inaugural half marathon and marathon. Obviously, we'd only do the half. I have absolutely NO DESIRE to do a full marathon. I plan to run the one she did in October NEXT October and another one here at home in November next year too to (hopefully) keep bettering my time. :)

DH and I are thinking about doing a couple triathlons next summer as a team. He would do the swim and bike and I would do the run. He can't run anymore (bad knees) and we just got brand new awesome bikes so he should be able to keep up with the other bikers. I got a bike for exercise and to be able to go on bike rides with my kids next summer, so I didn't get a 'racing' bike (neither did DH). I wanted to be comfortable and be able to exercise...and I LOVE my bike! The bicycle shop was awesome too. Love that customer service!

Now...if only I could NOT proceed to get a big as a house this holiday season, I'd be doing GREAT! UGH!! I've decided that I really don't want to gain anymore than I already have with my inactivity (more on that in a minute) so I'm hoping to get through these next few weeks without having major gains. If it weren't for the darn weekends I'd be in better shape. :) Wouldn't we all?? BFF is coming to town the last of the month too and that always spells trouble. I love her to death but we eat out like fiends when she is in town and she's a bad influence! (she'll say it's me). :)

As far as the ankle goes, I am boot free now! I'm supposed to be working my time up on the elliptical...that isn't going so well but I am PAIN FREE!!! When I am on my feet for a long time, my ankle will give me fits but other than that I am doing GREAT where that is concerned. I see the doctor on Tuesday and I am hoping he will say I don't need any more PT. I had to cancel last week b/c I had sick (throwing up sick) kids. NOT FUN! I'm not doing my exercises the way I am supposed to, but oh well.

Gotta scoot...the dryer is going off and I still need to clean up the mess from dinner. I guess the whole family thinks I LIKE to clean up messes b/c that's ALL I EVER DO! I'll leave you with this...

Cleaning your house while your children are growing is like shoveling the drive while it's still snowing.

Yes this picture just may make the Christmas cards this year!

Well, well, well...and some pictures!

Here I sit. I have so much I WANT to write about, but not enough time (at least I don't think). So I'll start and see where I end up...

Found out last week that I do NOT have to have surgery on my ankle. Doctor wants me to do some physical therapy and wean off the boot. I haven't worn the boot much the last 2 days just b/c it's so cumbersome and slows me down so much. But boy could I tell it this morning! I felt like one wrong turn and my ankle would just split in half. So, I start physical therapy on Thursday and should only have to do it for a few weeks. I'm hopeful I can go back to working out soon.

I really MISS working out. My eating has been crap b/c I feel like if I can't exercise, then why eat right. I know that is a horrible mind set but it's the truth. When I would work out, I always felt like I had to eat right b/c I was working out and fueling my body for those work outs. It's a vicious cycle these mind games we play with ourselves.

DS2 was been sick since Thursday. I had him at the pedi on Thursday afternoon where she gave him a shot for croup. Saturday night we were in the urgent care and they treated him for pneumonia--gave him a shot of antibiotic (he HATES oral medications) and started him on breathing treatments. Chest x-ray came back negative but they told me to go ahead and keep treating him.

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? I have! DS2 is pretty much done minus his stocking stuffers and clothes. My neice and nephew are done and DS1 is started and I just have a few more things to get him. Now...to tackle everyone else on my list. Every year my list seems to grow but my budget doesn't. :)

So here are some fairly recent pictures of the boys and me.

This is DS2 on Halloween--he was a spider. Cutest spider EVER!!! But I may be a bit biased.

This is the boys and me and the dog (Sophie). DS1 was Transformer BumbleBee and Sophie was dressed up like a pumpkin. :)

This is DS1 on his first day of kindergarten--back in August. He hasn't changed much other than maybe gotten taller.

So there you have it...an update of sorts. I'm still here, still fat, and still non mobile. Fun times in Amanda-land! :)

Down...maybe out???

And I don't mean down as in losing weight down...

Two weeks ago (10/14 to be exact), I was walking DS1 out to the bus and my right ankle just rolled out from under me. I never fell per se, but I knew I had hurt it. Couldn't put any weight on it AT ALL. Went to the doctor the next day for an x-ray b/c I was for sure it was broke. It wasn't. So he tells me to rest (yeah right! I have 2 kids how can I rest?!?!) and take ibuprofen. So I start popping the motrin and the pain is hidden very well. Fast forward to 10/21 (my birthday). Doc's office calls back they need to speak to me ASAP about my ankle. I wasn't home and doc was getting ready to leave the office until this past Monday. I called back on Friday to see if the nurse would tell me anything...she couldn't/wouldn't. I knew then that it couldn't be good news. My foot/ankle had started to feel better but then it had started getting worse again. Doc calls me on Monday and thinks I may have a break somewhere and/or tendon/ligament damage, he sends me to a specialist ASAP. The NEXT DAY, I see the specialist. He orders an MRI and thinks I have tendon/ligament damage. He gives me a walking boot, tells me to wear it any time I am weight bearing and also gives me a compression sock to wear at all times as well to help w/ the swelling. The MRI is this coming Monday (11/2) and I have my follow up appointment w/ him next Thursday to make a definitive diagnosis and plan.

So...needless to say my workouts are now non-existent. I am so bummed. I may be looking at surgery...and if I need it, I'm not having it until January. I will NOT be laid up during the holidays. I don't care, I won't do it! I will NOT miss this time with my boys. And we're talking 8-10 weeks of recovery after surgery OR 8-10 weeks of physical therapy (if I don't need surgery). I had all these plans to do a half marathon in May. There's no way I can do that now if I can't even begin to think about working out for that until March! I'm so disappointed and discouraged.

So, I'm thinking about going to a Core lifestyle for eating (thank you Colette!) and doing a lot of pilates to strengthen my core and upper body. I love my legs and they've always been strong (or so I thought) so hopefully they will bounce back from this quickly. I don't know how to swim correctly and I don't have anywhere to go (FREE!) that I can use a pool in the winter. My diet is going to have to be PERFECT if I want to lose any weight. :( And we all know how hard that is!

So that's my update. My week has sucked eating wise, but I am going to try super duper hard this coming week. DH has put a monetary incentive out for us. Whoever loses the most per month (based on a percentage), will get an extra $50 of spending money in their budget for the month. WOO HOO!!!

Have a great weekend and HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Maybe I'll post some pics of the boys in their costumes...if I can get DS2 to wear his. He threw a FIT to even try it on!

It's been a while...

I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged...WOW!!! A lot has happened but I'll post the major stuff...

DS1 started kindergarten in August and LOVES it. He just got his first report card last week and is doing so well. He's gotten a 'green light' every day which has shocked us!

DS2 is now 18 months old...and he is MEAN! LOL!!! But he is so stinkin cute and sweet. We absolutely adore him and he is his mamma's boy.

I'm still playing with 5# that I gained over the summer. I want to lose 10# by Christmas and I was doing really well in the work out department....but then I suffered a severe sprain on 10/14 to my ankle/foot. Actually, the doctor called me back last week and left a message that he needs to talk to me about the results of my x-ray. Well, of course they called on Wednesday (my birthday) and left the message but that the doc would be out until Monday. So, now I wait until tomorrow to find out if it's really broken or if it's a torn tendon or what. I am so bummed!!! I called the office on Friday to see if the nurse would tell me what was going on but she told be that the doctor himself wanted to talk to me...that can't be good!

I had a birthday last week--the big 3-1!

DH and I had an anniversary in June--9 years!

We started Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover in May and are now credit card debt free for the first time in our marriage AND all of our vehicles are paid for (we have 3). I am not sure on the total amount of money that we have paid off but it's been AWESOME for us and our marriage. We live on a budget now (never did before) and we don't argue at all over money. WOO HOO!!!

We are debating baby #3. DH is all on board but I am not. I really like the age Zac is now and I really, really, really hate the baby stage. I hate feeling tied to the house and I did until Zac quit nursing. I loved breastfeeding him but I hated feeling like there was so much I couldn't do. I never got a moment alone...and now I do. Tonight, both boys played outside together for well over an hour...if that's what next summer is going to be like, I'm all for having some time to myself again! I know that sounds selfish but between working full time, being the primary care giver, and running the household--this girl gets worn out! I think we will wait at least another year to make any major decisions.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm going to try to get back to blogging...but I'm addicted to facebook! I'm always on there...sometimes just wanting people to post something that I can read--LOL!!! I'll try to get some pictures of the boys on here soon...they are growing like weeds and eating us out of house and home!