Wordless Wednesday--Sleep Position #35

She really is asleep!

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For more pictures, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Temptations

As I sit here typing this, there is a box of chocolate-covered pretzels, a box of See's candies, a box of Almond Roca, half a bag of Hershey's chocolate, and a container of fresh-baked Costco cookies sitting right next to the computer.

My mouth is watering thinking about all this fatty goodness in my house right now.

But I'm being good, I swear. It's tempting, but I'm resisting.

I, like everybody else, desperately need to lose some weight this year. After three kids? It's time.

I never bothered dieting after Cinderella, because I knew I wasn't done having kids, so what was the point?

I eventually lost most of the weight naturally, but then I got pregnant again 2 years later, and again 9 months after Sleeping Beauty's birth.

Basically, I have two pregnancies worth of baby weight to lose.

It's time to get rid of it.

I have never dieted before, and I have never had to exercise before. I've usually been active enough to keep healthy, but with two kids, then three, I don't do much of anything.

We bought a Wii Fit for Christmas, and I've been using that regularly. It's not much, but it's a start. At least I can track my BMI changes and my weight loss with it.

I have a Pilate's DVD and body ball that I'll use eventually, but I think I need to gradually work up to them. Finding time without the girls around is almost impossible; they insist on joining me when I work out, and there just isn't room for all of us in the living room. There's nap time, but I'm currently using that time to finish up school work for this term.

I think I'll just stick to the Wii Fit for now. Lose weight first; tone body second.

What's really helping me lose the weight is watching my eating habits. I've stopped snacking in between meals, unless it's a piece of fruit. I do have a treat after lunch (usually licorice) to calm the sweets craving, but then that's it. I have no dessert Monday through Thursday. I indulge on the weekend, but way more moderately than before. I also don't eat anything past 8:00 pm during the week, 9:00 pm on the weekends.

It's been tough, but so far I've stuck to this new regimen for two weeks now.

I used to be one of those people who could eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and not gain an ounce.

Actually, I probably still am mostly that way. I just need to get down to my ideal weight first. After that, I won't gain weight very easily, and when I do, it'll just seem to magically melt away in a day or two.

At least, that's the way it used to be. I'm hoping it won't have changed too much in the almost-six years since I first got pregnant.

I'm sure it has though. *sigh*

I have virtually no will-power when it comes to food. I've never needed it before. All these snacky treats in the house right now? I didn't buy them. I never would have bought them. They were very generously given to us by my in-laws. I really appreciate their generosity. I really, honestly do. And I will eat my share of what they brought. Just slowly, methodically, and cautiously this time. With lots of will-power that I will find somewhere.

I have to find it.

And I will lose the weight. Despite the temptations.

Yes, I Am Fully Aware New Year's Has Come and Gone

I am so behind the times!

We spent a wonderful New Year's week up in Lake Wenatchee with lots of family.
The 5 of us, Prince Charming's parents, my parents, Prince Charming's brother and sister-in-law, and her parents all lived cozily together in a beautiful lodge for 5 days.

There was snow galore! So much snow, in fact, there we were a little worried we might actually be snowed in. Well, not us; we didn't have to cross the passes to get home.
There was so much snow that we actually lost satellite reception on New Year's Day.

Yep. No football for us. At least not until evening.

That's okay. We had fun anyway.
We ate way too much food and drank way too much wine.
We played cards and games.
We watched TV.
We chatted in front of roaring fires.
We napped and worked on puzzles.
We sledded.

It was a wonderful week, and we're definitely doing it again next year!
In fact, we've already got it booked.

Now if only my sister and her fiance would join us...

The first evening there, we had another Christmas.

The girls opened presents...




...while the adults took pictures.

The rest of the week, we sledded.

And Sleeping Beauty refused to keep her mittens on.

Here's the gang.
One would think that with 10 adults in the room, at least one of them would think to turn some lights on while we took group pictures.
We didn't.

I'm already looking forward to 2010 to do it all again!

Information Processing: Christmas

Yes, I know Christmas is done and gone. Yes, I know it's been over for almost two weeks. However, I am just now processing everything, so bear with me.

We spent our first Christmas at home this year. We had told our families that we wouldn't be coming back over before we even found out we were pregnant again. Of course, when we knew we were expecting the Little Prince, it just solidified our decision.

Christmas with our families is always a very busy affair. It includes a minimum of four present-opening sessions, lots of driving, and an exhausted royal court by the time we come home.

We really wanted to simplify this year.

And we did.

Almost too much for our first Christmas at home.

Of course, there wasn't really anything else we could have added.

We had lots of snow, which is always nice.

The decorations were simple (we don't have many), the tree was a hand-me-down artificial (we had no money left in the budget for anything else), and it was just the five of us.

We went to church Christmas Eve where we spent most of our time wrangling bored kids in fluffy dresses (there was no children's church).



















Christmas morning, the girls woke up around 7:30 (yay!) and everyone congregated in our bed.















The girls checked out what Santa had left in their stockings while I made breakfast. Then, we opened presents. Well, the girls opened presents. Prince Charming and I rarely exchange gifts. Instead, we just ordered a Wii Fit the other day.

The "Belle dress" was Cinderella's favorite, hands down.















Sleeping Beauty got a new pull toy. It's a dog. She didn't quite get it, though.



















And The Little Prince? He slept through it all, smart boy.















That's it. That was our Christmas. No busyness, no driving, no family.

We saved all of that for New Year's. Stay tuned...