One month later

Wow where did the month of January go?!?!?! Well it has been one month since I started my new year new healthier me journey. It has been going well I have kept up with the work outs and by the end of week 5 of Alpha round of T25 I was even doing most of the exercises without modifying! I am down 4 inches off my waist and hips, down 1/2 inch in my arms, down an inch in the chest and up a half inch in my legs but I can see muscle definition on my legs! I am only down 3 pounds and that had me all worked up but then I look at my inches lost and that what has been keeping me motivated! So I have decided for the next month I am not weighing myself. I am hiding the scale and just looking at the measuring tape! One thing I have to work on this next month is food. I have to clean up our eating and go back to a more paleo diet. I have to learn ways to work past my craving and not give into them! Ok back to meal planning for the week and helping T finish his class Valentines. But before I go here is my split pic from the start date and one month.

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Weight loss journey

So here I am again it a new 2014 and one of goals for this year is to loss some weight and eat better......like every year! But I will say between 2012 and 2013 I worked hard on cleaning up out eating and found we can do well eating a 80/20 paleo diet. Paleo diet is the caveman diet no grains and no dairy. We are not 100% paleo and there are days we are not paleo at all due to events going on in our lives at that given time. I have maintained most of the weight I lost while pregnant with CC. I have only gained about 10lbs back of the 30lb lost and I am still at 40lbs over all since 2012. I did have a bloat gain over the holidays and most of that is gone! I have also been medication free for the past 3 months for my Type 2 diabetes. I am hope to stay that way! So this year I want to focus on exercise. I have decided to give BeachBody T25 a try. I am doing along with a challenge group for 60days. I am hoping that being part of a group will help stay motivated and make this a lifestyle change! Here is the before pictures:

Okay time to get started and put day one on the books!

Christmas tradition

This Christmas marked the 10th one without my mom. Christmas was her most favorite holiday of the year. She would decorate the house from top to bottom and we would not bake Christmas cookies we would make these things call struffoli. It is yummy fried dough covered then in honey and sprinkles. We made these every Christmas without fail even the last year she was with us. She would enlist the help of a half dozen of James and my friends. Plus she would have friends come over to help or to just watch the child labor work for pizza and a taste of those little golden fried pieces of dough. Those are some of my best Christmas memories from growing up. So this year I decided to start the tradition with Ty and C. It was a great success and fun!!! Here are a few pictures from our struffoli making day.

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Getting crafty again

Pinterest has excited my crafty side to back out to play! I decided if I was going to take the time to look up and pin things I should at least try some of the many things I pin. So some have been fails but they have been fun to try. Here are a few of the successes. First one is photo's mounted to canvases. Here is the pin I got the idea from I am planning on using these canvases as ornaments. They weren't hard to make at all. I had some Instagram pictures printed and I picked up 3x3 canvases from the craft store and then broke out the MOD podge. I coated the canvas and centered the picture on the canvas( I had to trim the picture even though it was 3x3. I let that dry for a bit then I coated the canvas. The instructions in the pin I followed said to use acrylic paint for the sides but I used a Sharpie paint marker and they paint dried faster then the acrylic paint. I am planning on making some 8x10's of pictures I took in Ireland for my dads room (he's from there)for Christmas. This next one is a canvas with melted crayons. I showed this pin as a possible teacher gift and he wanted to make it for his art teacher. It was a great project to do with him(he's 7.5). He had fun using the heat gun to melt the crayons! I am planning on adding a quote to the bottom. Final one for right now is this pin. Love the idea of designing my own mug with a Sharpie. I made this for a friend for her gift. I think I got the idea for "wish this was wine" from another pin but I couldn't find the pin to link it. Thanks for stopping by!

Little Miss turns 1!

Last month Caitlyn turned 1!!!! I can't believe a year has passed already. She is growing up way to fast. She is taking steps and talking and some of the talking is starting to become words you can understand. She is one of the happiest babies I have ever meet. She always has a smile and you can turn her tears to giggles in no time flat. We had a little birthday party for her and I decided to get crafty. I love the way everything turned out. I did a little candy and cupcake table with some streamers. I also made her a tutu and shirt with a 1 on it. Here are a few pictures of my creations! Thanks for stopping by!

new edition

I meant to post this in Jan but life got in the way. Baby C's hospital picture. She was 7.1 lbs and 19 inches (I think).

Time flies

So its been way to long since I sat down to blog. Time seems to go rushing by me in a blur of appointments, activities and school stuff for Ty. It has been a like a full time job working out Ty's needs at school for his dyslexia( they call it something else these days)and his anxiety. He has been making big strides with his anxiety. He is working hard everyday on his congnative behavior therapy. School is going well and he continues to learn and improve with his learning. It just may take him a little longer then some to get things but he gets them at his pace. He has also been woking hard at karate the past year and half. He is already past up to his orange belt. We are proud and most importantly he is proud of himself. This year has been awesome watching Caitlyn grow and learn it is hard to believe she is going to 1 next week. It seems like yesterday she was still in my belly. She is a very happy little lady. She is always smiling and laughing. She is also every determinded to learn and master new things. I am hoping to get her into some baby story times and a playgroup. Dad is going well. He enjoys watching the kids grow and play. I can't believe he is going to be 72 in 2014 and it has been 7.5 years since he had his heart attack and stroke. He is an inspirtion. Some days I think I am nuts for living in this sandwiched life between dad and the kids and then I see them interact with one another and it makes it all worth it!