Fitness Challenge again! Day 1

This morning I got up before my children, which seems against nature!!  I weighed in at 13kg's more than I want to weigh in at, sigh! - so I know I've got a lot of work to do! :)  I have put on some weight again since losing it post-baby - I think the last 2 weeks being on holiday and eating an awful lot of Nutellas and hot chocolates (all of which I can comfortably blame Jonny for - he and Jessima bought me a giant jar of Nutella (YUM!  Whoever invented Nutella deserves a crown...and their very own island... which they can prooobably afford now...!) and he fixed my teeth so I can eat hot stuff again :) SUCH an awesome brother!! :) :) But I digress...) has helped me become plump and lovely.  But it's time to get it all off!!!

I'm aiming to get down to a more comfortable weight within 12 weeks - in time for my birthday, yay!! :)

Until then I'll be...
Working out 5 days a week
Not eating after 7pm each day (except for special occassions/outings - I mean everyday eating)
Drinking at least 2.5L per day
Eating only 1 dessert/treat (I'll miss chocolate, sigh..) per week
Trying to reduce my portion sizes a little and not replacing chocolate with bread as I have a tendancy to do... mmmmm... bread... ;)

I'm trying to remember if there's anything else I'm doing, but at the moment I can't think of anything?!  I want this to be a lifestyle thing for forever though, so I don't want to be so rigid I can't wait "till it's over".  Also I want to get strong and healthy so I'm not scared to have another bub, cause at the moment I feel like a bit of a wreck!

Usually when I'm doing a fitness challenge I have a 'get up by...' time, but at the moment if I ever manage to sleep in I'm going to call it a WIN lol :)

But anyway, I got up and worked out.  It was miserable, as it always is at first!! My left knee was 'clicking' when I was doing squats and stuff and ended up really hurting so I focused on my arms for a bit, and then I did my 40mins on the treadmill, which I don't have enough endorphines to enjoy yet!! ;)  All day I've been eating sultana biscuits instead of the pack of Tim Tams in the cupboard.  I'm exhausted and can't wait to drop into bed later!!  But I'm kind of enjoying how much it all sucks cause I know it'll be awesome soon, and it'll only get easier as I keep going!! :)   And I'll be able to fit into all the cute clothes in a box in my wardrobe.  YAY! :)

Bub wants me so I'd better go, but I wanted to write about this so I don't let myself drop the ball on it (also, sometimes Claire gets bored at work - 'shout out' for Claire! ;))!  On Wednesday I have my first netball game of the new season (I think I'll finally get to play a whole season this time between babies, fun! :)) and I'm confident I'll be awful and unfit, but I'm looking forward to improving on that front too!!

Wish me luck!!! :)

xo

PS:  I just read back on this and I realise I didn't complain nearly enough!!!  I didn't mention the head cold I have and that I was coughing along the treadmill like a sad but determined unwell, unfit little blob!!  (Don't worry - at the time I enjoyed a good whimper and felt appropriately sorry for myself.) Also, I weighed like, 4kg's less last time I weighed myself a couple of weeks ago!  How much does that suck?!!!  Sigh...

(I think that was better, yeah? :))

Maggie's Future...

Maggie's Piano Lessons 1 & 2

Last Saturday (the first of this year!) I started teaching Maggie the piano.

I'm not actually very proficient at the piano myself, but I did learn when I was younger and although I didn't keep it up much, I know the basics.

Our plan is to teach her until I am in over my head, and then pass her on to Tammy to become amazing :)  Like Tammy :)

I just wanted to write up what I do each week with her, for my own reference next time I'm teaching the piano to someone from scratch (like Ana, starting the first day of next year...) and so Tammy can come on and tell me if I'm doing stuff way wrong! :)

So Week 1:

Learnt that the notes correspond with letters A-G.  Learned how to find middle C, and place both thumbs on middle C and the rest of the fingers on the other notes in basic piano position.

Week 2:

Learnt a basic scale just with the right hand - singing 1-2-3-4-5 as she went up.  When she had mastered up, learnt down.  Had some trouble and tears - said it was too hard.  I got on and played some Disney songs she recognised (like, one handed lol) to show her how fun piano can be when you learn it, then sat with her to have another go, and helped place her fingers a few times.  By the end of the lesson she got it, and was very excitedly playing her 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 over and over.  If she masters it this week I plan on teaching her to do it with her left hand next lesson, and start introducing the notes on paper afterwards.

People With Kids Don't Know

Tammy sent this to me recently and James and I had a good laugh :)  It's so funny.  Every single day I'm in fits of laughter between going insane - such an awesome ride having children around!! :)

***Okay for some reason I can't get the link to the video to come in here, but if you click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFQfylQ2Jgg

You can watch it... so funny :)

In other news, Maggie's going for her kindy interview on Monday (yes, they actually reject kindergarten-ers they don't think are up to the challenge!!).  I can't believe she's leaving us!!!  She's currently here 'standing out' because she and Ana were having a crazy pre-naptime party in their room despite my urgings that they cease and desist.  Ana's throwing a mega tantrum, clearly overtired after the party.  She'll be asleep in no time :)  SJ's fast asleep, tired out from our huge morning at the grocery store - bless!  Fingers crossed in another hour I'll be sitting on the couch with my feet up eating lunch with all 3 cherubs sleeping peacefully!! :)  More likely SJ will wake up the SECOND Maggie and Ana finally succumb to sleep - they are like clockwork these guys lol :)

I'm DONE with morning sickness and I feel like I have a new lease on life! - SO exciting to not be sick, I can survive the getting fat and tired now :)  And enjoy the 3 babies we have before number 4 joins us!!!  15 weeks pregnant, so I'm really, REALLY excited to find out what we're having in just 5 more weeks!!!!!

Christmas soon!!!!!!! :)

Perth trip sooner!!!!!!!!!!! :)

James gets to not work on his holidays for once because he's in a grown up job where holidays are paid!!!!!! :)  I am making all sorts of fun family Christmas plans - going into the city to see the parades and pantomimes and lights and Santas - can't WAIT!!!! :)  

Ana's mega tantrum still going... I'm sure she'll run out of puff soon... fingers crossed... :)

Loving this 'holiday' weather - it's AWFULLY STICKY AND HOT and I can feel a good Summer STORM coming on soon!!! :)  We had a massive hail storm on Sunday, tis the season!!  Feels like Christmas :)

Hope everyone has a FABULOUS day!!!!!! :)

xoxox

Bucket List

I don't really usually dream too big or make a bunch of goals.  My goals in life have always been pretty simple - be a fabulous homemaker, make our kitchen the heart of our home and always bake and cook for our family, be up to date with ironing, be a good Mum and wife of course, be a good person, don't get fat.  Well okay it's not all that simple - especially since I keep getting sick and having babies at the moment - but it's all pretty much within the walls of our home.  I'm secretly not that adventurous.  I tend to be scared of everything.  I have an extreme imagination, overthink everything, and worst-case scenarios flock to me wherever I go.  It's actually something I have to consciously work on all the time, or I'd never leave the house!  - or be in the house alone! lol... James is very adventurous.  And I know it would be better for me to be so - experience more, enjoy more of what this world has to offer, be less afraid of unknown people and places.  And my own shadow... :)

Anyway, I thought I'd write a bucket list.  Don't get the wrong idea - it's not going to be full of skydiving or anything of the sort!  But I'm trying to look outward a little more, not be afraid to make bigger plans.  Some of the things like 'own our own home' have been lifelong dreams, and now that I look at the few I've already jotted down, they're not adventurous at all! - but I'll keep adding to it and I'll try to look outward a little more :)

Own our own home
Serve a mission with James
Write a book (probably a children's book)
Visit every capital city in Australia
Travel to Europe
Travel to America
Attend a session of General Conference in the Conference Center
Go on a dinner cruise
Go out to dinner somewhere where the dress code is 'formal'
Paint at least one surface in our home an exciting colour
Have $10,000 in the bank, 'just in case'
...hmmm.... bucket lists should be much longer an more exciting, right?  :P

Meanwhile, here's my list of things I want to do/see with James when we go to America one day! - This one was MUCH easier to write, because I wasn't trying to think of 'outside the box' things I want to do.  I already want to do all these one day! :) When I started writing about travelling up there I just started this list for fun - maybe we should just call this my bucket list instead??!! ;)

American holiday bucket list ;)

Eat a pretzel with cheese sauce in a 'mall'
Eat at the Cheesecake Factory
Eat at California Pizza Kitchen
(clearly I have fond memories of some of the food there! ;))
Attend a session of General Conference in the Conference Center
Visit the Sacred Grove
Visit Navoo, Illinois
Visit James' mission parents
Visit Dad's old mission companion's family
Play in snow
Times Square
See a show on Broadway
See 'local' New York - hopefully get some people who know New York to tell me where to go/what to see in terms of meandering around eating at fun places, visiting cool markets, etc.  Spend at least a day or two doing 'laid back' New York!
Go to Disneyland/Universal Studios
Do a session in as many temples as possible - Including SLC!
Walk around BYU
Shop (pack very light on the way over! ;))
Shop at Deseret Book
Visit Park City
Visit the Humanitarian Center in SLC
Do all the Temple Square Tours - the Lion House, etc.
'This is the place' monument
Ice skate outdoors
See the Christmas lights on Temple Square
Eat pizza in New York
Hollywood walk of fame, Chinese theatre etc.
Buy something at the Kodak theatre boutiques again
Go to the 'You've Got Mail' cafe in New York.  Eat there.
Central Park
Catch an NBA game

Clearly we're going to be there for quite some time, and clearly we're going to have a limitless amount of money.  So this trip may be in 30 years.  Or more.  But still, it's fun to dream!!  Also, it became clear to me while writing this list that our trip will span from the first weekend in October, till at least Christmas haha - well, timeframe sorted! ;)

Can't wait to add to this list as it comes to me - a lot of it's based on what I did/ate last time I was there ;)

Sister Love!

I just got off the phone to my beautiful sister-in-law Jessima who moved far, far away a few months ago now, and it hits me again how much I miss her!  And how lucky I am to be so very blessed sisters-wise.  I was born with an older sister, the Tamster, who's always been perfect in every way - including being the best big sister on the entire planet.  Then Bethany was born, who's one of the sweetest, nicest person you've ever met, she's ridiculously nice.  Both of them are.  And then my brother Jonny married Jessima, who's another one of the sweetest, nicest people you've ever met, and she just opened up her heart to all of us and we all adore her.  Then Micky married Bec, and they've always lived so far away but they still make an effort to come and see us and they've just had baby Saphira and Bec is such a sweet Mama!  Some people don't have any sisters at ALL!!!  And I feel for them terribly!!  James has a half sister who he only found out about semi recently and who he's never met, but I hope one day we do, because I can't imagine missing out on another sister relationship!  She lives overseas, and is about 5 years younger than us I think - maybe more?  But the thought of another sister thrills me.  And I've got another 2 in the bag sometime in the future when Boliver take on their vows and marry another couple for us!  It's so exciting wondering who they'll be! :)  Sisters are so nice.

I feel like such a wonderful parent, because Maggie and Ana have each other.  Forget buying them a swing set - I just birthed each of them their lifelong BFF.  You're welcome, girls :)

And I'm pregnant at the moment (and dying.  Was morning sickness really this bad every other time?!  HOW do I forget this?!) and hoping to give SJ a brother (yes, I'll love it just as much if it's female ;)) so that he can have a brother like I have my sisters.  And while I've been dead and dying of morning sickness Tammy and Beth have both come over and done my dishes and helped with my girls and brightened my days!!  My wonderful mother has been over a LOT, and I've been over there and she's looked after my babies and done the days' meals for us so I didn't have to gag over the sink for hours too.  I am so grateful I can't even tell her properly.  She is wonderful.  And she has so much of her own stuff on at the moment and has been dropping everything to come and help me.  I am so blessed with wonderful women in my life!!

And now I should mention the amazing guys too - from Oliver making me toasties when I was hunched up on his couch the other day to Ben helping with the children and Dad making me Sunday night dinners, I am so blessed - and I haven't even mentioned James, who has been 'The Man' - coming home from work, making dinner, doing dishes, putting children to bed, cleaning everything and then pulling out all his tons of marking and report writing for his reports that are due next week, while I lie limply on the couch barely even pulling out a smile.  And he does all that in addition to looking after me and running out to get me anything that I thought would make me feel better if just for a moment!

So very blessed!  I hope the J's move back one day and we can hang out with them again.  I feel like I took them for granted when they were here and I miss them!!  And Jessima is down there all alone being supermum with her 4 children under 5, baby Jayde only 5 weeks old and Jonny working long hours in the new business!!  And now I so wish I could help them!!  (At least when the morning sickness goes away Jess :P).  It's Jenna's birthday today, and I wish we could see her and cuddle her and wish her happy birthday!!  Maggie talks about Jenna and Jordan and Jacey and Little Baby Jayde 'who we haven't seen yet' all the time, and loved calling her up to wish her happy birthday earlier :)

I'd better dash - my little baby man is crying and he really is the sweetest baby boy I've ever seen in my life, he has me completely wrapped - it makes James roll his eyes at least 20 times a day - another reason it's good I'm pregnant - this way hopefully I won't spoil Stanley-James too much when I get busy with the baby :)  But for now, I'm his - and I'm off.  But I'm really so grateful for my sisters!  And brothers, and parents, and everyone, and this baby in my belly that's making me so sick but I know that I'm going to love it forever, and I'm so excited to be adding another little perfect person to this family who make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world every single day!  Oh poor SJ - really going now! xoxox

Random Stuff...

• I'm so tired!  Tired tired tired.  All the time, tired.  Tireder than I ever thought it would be possible to be!  I'm so tired! lol :)  Everyone says the jump from 2 to 3 children is the hardest, and I have to admit it's tough!! It's SO WONDERFUL to have these 3 perfect, wonderful, adorable (if at times insane ;)) children, I'm totally smitten by them, but it is kind of tough lately!! :)  I dream of getting 6 hours of sleep in a row.  And then I wake up and feed again ;)
• Our little boy SJ is the sweetest, cutest little boy in the history of the world.  I'm completely in love with him :)
• Maggie is the rockingest 3 year old ever - love her to bits - she's so funny, and so much fun.  She's like my little sidekick :)
• Ana's my other little sidekick.  She's so sweet and funny - she loves to laugh and be happy and dance, and she makes us all happy :)
• James gets holidays every couple of months.  We never realised until now how AWESOME it is that he's a teacher!!!  He's on holidays again next week.  He asked me what I wanted to do in the holidays.  I looked at him and my eyes widened with excitement, and I said "I want to have an entire day of naps, where you just watch the children, and I sleep all day, just waking up to feed SJ!!  ........ and we should hit the theme parks or something 'fun' too I guess...".  I think he's going to let me do it too, and it feels like all my dreams are coming true!! lol :)  I'm excited to hang out with him also :)
• I've been ironing :) Which has been one of my dreams of housewife-ing forever!  I finally feel like a real woman when I see James go to his wardrobe and pull out a neatly ironed shirt all ready to go for the day.  It makes me feel like I'm being an awesome wife lol :)
• I should be ironing right now!  But I feel like I need to 'let out' more random stuff about my life, so I'll probably do this again soon...  It's 10pm-ish, and Maggie's still not asleep.  Sleeping pills for children sound like child abuse!! Until you have one who won't sleep.  Then they just sound like a good idea.
• James is at the semi-formal.  Bringing back memories - I so wanted to go but apparently they don't let randoms in? :)
• I haven't been working out since I broke my toe 5 weeks ago and I've been getting terribly fat :s  But it's only sore a little now, so I should get back into it this week... or next week, after my nap day?  I'd like to be skinny again and fit all those cute clothes in my wardrobe. The whole getting fat and pregnant and then trying to get skinny again cycle is a little trying, but the children are worth it - they totally rock :)
• I'm out xox