Sorry I've been gone...

Omg! I've had such a problem making posts and even just getting to the page to do anything. This new set up Blogger has going on is really not agreeing with me or my computer. As much as I'd like to stay here on blogger I'm currently working on switching everything to a new blog site. I just can't do this new blogger stuff. I can't even see the entire page as I'm typing this. I will be switching over to wordpress and I hope you all will come over and continue to follow us. I'll be transferring all of my posts from this blog over to that one. Here is the link to our new page. This will be my last post on this blog. Thank you all for being loyal readers!
http://kryskorner.wordpress.com/wp-admin/

Let's try this again

Okay so last week didn't exactly go as planned. The diet pretty much went down the drain. This week however I refuse to let that happen again. I didn't do any measurements today because of how well last week went. I doubt much has changed except for maybe gaining a pound or two lol. I will say that I think I'm starting the day out pretty good though. I've only had 1/2 cup of coffee before I started breakfast compared to my usual 2 cups. And I really think I made a good choice for breakfast! Instead of typing out everything I eat, I'm going to document with photos. Anyone can say whatever they want but you can't fake photos... well you can but I'm clueless when it comes to photoshop! So here we go again!

Weight Lost Week 1

As I mentioned in my last post I will be starting my weight loss Lifestyle Change today. I'll be starting off each week with a weigh-in so to speak. Not just a weight check but measurements as well. I'm going to try to keep this as organized as possible (may prove to be more difficult than anticipated as I'm not an organized person). I will be posting daily with what I've eaten and drank for the day as well as "journal" entries as well to hopefully keep myself motivated! Post will be edited daily as well in order to keep everything accurate. If I were to post at the end of the day I'd more than likely forget something. So let's get this show on the road!




Need a Pep talk?... See last blog! 








Weigh-in/Measurements for Feb. 27-March 4th


8:10 a.m - 180lbs
Waist: 40in. 
Arms: 11in
Hips:43in
Thighs: 22in
*Chest: 42in


*I've included chest because rumor is that your chest shrinks when you loose weight... Let's test it!




Food Intake: 


Monday Feb. 27th
*Breakfast:  6:45 a.m.
2 cups coffee (both with 3tsp. sugar &1/3 oz 2% milk)
Egg muffin (thanks a lot pinterest!) w/ <1/2 TBS sausage, <1/2 tsp onions, < 1/2 tsp. mushrooms, and 1/2 tbs mild cheddar cheese. 
* Lunch: 
1 Tuna wrap w/1 cup mayo
1 boiled egg
*Dinner: 
6oz grilled steak
2 cups asparagus 
1/2 cup pasta


**snacks for the day consisted of boiled eggs only. Total water intake for the day was 32oz**




 Tuesday Feb. 28th


*Breakfast: 
Pancakes w/syrup & butter


*Lunch: 


*Dinner:
Meatloaf 
cheddar/broccoli rice
squash


*snacks for the day consisted of boiled eggs only, 0 water intake for the day*


NOTES:


Tuesday I basically lost track of everything. Not a good thing I know but it's all a working progress. I don't expect to see any results in the first week as I need to get the hang of things. However, I will be doing the green cleanse diet as soon as I can make it to the store and pick up ingredients so that should help some. I haven't fit in any exercise either as I've been trying to get an order done and taking care of Brooklyn. I feel like I'm just making excuses instead of getting myself on track but that's not what I'm trying to do. I promise. Anyway, today is a new day! You can do it!

Weight loss tips and words of inspiration...

Exercise Post

Week 1: Run one minute. Walk 90 seconds. Repeat eight times. Do three times a week. Week 2: Run two minutes. Walk one minute. Repeat seven times. Do three times a week. Week 3: Run three minutes. Walk one minute. Repeat six times. Do three times a week. Week 4: Run five minutes. Walk two minutes. Repeat four times. Do three times a week. Week 5: Run eight minutes. Walk two minutes. Repeat three times. Do three times a week. Week 6: Run twelve minutes. Walk one minute. Repeat three times. 

Time to play some catch up!

Bare with me for a moment while I go see what my last post was!... Okay now that I'm on track mentally I can continue with filling you in with the past month!

Brooklyn's first Christmas went just as planned! Which is actually saying a lot if you knew all of us. On Christmas Eve the kids opened their present from Jay and I which of course in our effort to start our own family traditions, was only pajamas. Still, Matt and Bri loved theirs, Brooklyn loved the wrapping paper. She has yet to wear her pajamas. In Florida the temp gets cold but I think we got her pajamas that are just too warm, and Brooklyn HATES being warm/hot.      Her pajamas will forever hang in my closet. That's okay though cause they are just so stinking cute! Christmas Eve night while Jay prepped the turkey and made his mom's homemade stuffing I laid out the milk and cookies and put all the gifts under the tree. I totally got busted too! I honestly thought Bri was sleep walking again at first, turns out she was fully awake and complaining about being hot. Only in Florida can you complain about being hot on Christmas! Finally got her back to bed, with her window cracked open, all the presents placed, and stockings stuffed. Briahnna woke up the next morning talking about what she had seen the night before. I had to pull her aside and basically tell her to shut up lol. The kids were not very happy that I made them wait until my mom and sister got here though. We did things a little different this year since there are now three kids. Before we would let Matt open one then Bri then Matt then Bri and so on and so on. This year Matt opened all of his then Bri then Brooklyn last. I wanted to make sure I was able to get plenty of photos of the kids. Of course Matt and Bri open theirs so fast that I wasn't able to get many of them. Make a long story short, Matt was the happiest about his MP3 player and  Paper Jamz. Bri was the happiest about her MP3 player, boots, jewelry, and make-up. Brooklyn was the most excited about... yep, you guessed it... THE PAPER! Her Grandma from New York got her the cutest little Christmas dress. Unfortunately she didn't get to wear it on Christmas though because she was cranky. She gets cranky after noon. Overall, I'd say we all had a pretty good Christmas. 
Brooklyn had her 6 month check up a little late because of the Mondays the office wasn't open due to holidays. Christine (the Dr. we see most of the time) said she is developing skills perfectly and very healthy! ...








Feb. 27th, 2012...
   Okay so I started this post on Jan. 16th. I got a little side tracked and never got around to finishing what I was writing. I also didn't bother going and re-reading what had so I'm obviously not going to finish that. Sorry! I admit, I SUCK at Blogging! So let's cut to the chase and make a long story short. Over the last 2 months, Brooklyn has learned to crawl, pull herself up, and successfully learned to get into everything she's not supposed to! Don't worry, I have pics... what am I saying, you know I have pics, I ALWAYS have pics! Jay took Bri to a Father/Daughter dance this past Saturday. Bri had a blast, I fixed her hair and make up and just really enjoyed herself hanging out with Jay for a couple of hours. Jay's vacation last week wasn't that bad. It didn't go as planned because his mom decided not to come down just yet, she wants to come down for Brooklyn's 1st birthday so we didn't really do anything "special". We did however go to the Waldo Flea and Farmer's market. Bri didn't go with us though cause she was at a friend's house. The rest of us had fun and we picked up lots of fresh veggies and strawberries. I really think Brooklyn even had fun, she was so good and really liked the bunnies and other animals we seen there. I finally got Krys' Kwilts up and running! I've been working on my first quilt order for a High School friend's daughter. Also been doing tutus, bows, and working on cloth diapers in between working on the quilt. I'd say the quilt is turning out very nicely (pics of it will be coming as well).
     Brooklyn stopped breastfeeding last month. I had to start giving her formula at bed time after nursing because we realized she wasn't sleeping because she just wasn't getting enough to eat. After about a week she pretty just stopped nursing all together. It was sad for me but she was happier so I was happy for her. I've gained like 10lbs back since she stopped nursing though, which I'm obviously not happy about. All morning I've been on Pinterest looking up weight loss tips. Since today is Monday, what better time to start! I know if I say I'm going to start on such and such date then I'll just keep putting it off. So today HAS to be the day. No more procrastinating. I must loose this weight, I'd really like to feel good about myself again like I did two month ago. I was so proud of myself for all the weight I lost, now I'm starting to become disgusted with myself again. After doing some research on pinterest I'm pretty confident that I can do it. I have to have the will power though and that's definitely a skill I lack. My next post however will be the start of my weight loss... Look for it! And I look forward to hearing any tips/tricks from my readers as well! ....

Now with out further distraction... here's some photos for your enjoyment!

Cologne from Aunt Stella and Uncle Augie

With their MP3 players

Matt's Birthday cupcakes
Whitney made him!
(Jan. 27th)

Father/Daughter dance
(Feb. 25th)

Quilt order as of Feb. 26th.
(Not finished yet) 

Elf on the Shelf...

          I discovered "The Elf on the Shelf" last year while I was pregnant with Brooklyn. Another one of those things you learn from being addicted to Babycenter. I had discussed the idea with Jay but of course he had no idea what I was speaking about. However, this Christmas season opened the window of conversation for us! ABC showed a special Christmas cartoon about The Elf on the Shelf. Jay, like I, thought it was such an awesome idea to get the kids(all kids, not just mine) into the Christmas spirit. Now I admit that I ruined Christmas, Easter, the tooth fairy, and any other hope for an imagination for Matt and Bri. I always told them the aforementioned people were made up. I did this for one reason... Oprah! I don't watch Oprah but I remember when I was pregnant with Matt seeing an episode where they were discussing the things we tell our children. Her guest at the time had said she never mentioned Santa or anyone else to her children in fear they would grow up thinking she was just a liar and they couldn't believe anything she told them. I was 15, that's my excuse for believing this BS. Because of stupid Oprah, my kids have no imagination what-so-ever. God help me though, I'm trying to make up for it. 

         Now obviously Brooklyn is too young to understand the concept of the Elf on the Shelf and Matt and Bri are too old for it (not to mention I think I've already scarred them too much to really enjoy the game). So we wont be buying said elf until next year. I am however on the look out for ideas to do with our elf . Yesterday on Facebook, a friend had posted a link to a blog actually making fun of the moms that do the elf. After reading over it and having a good laugh I was interested in the ideas this woman was actually making fun of. I HAD to find the blog of the woman being humiliated just for entertaining her child's imagination! I click the link to the 101 Elf on the Shelf Ideas... her blog post had been deleted. She was infuriated about her blog being used in reference to bashing over-achieving moms. I can't say I blame her though, I'm sure I would be a little butt sore if someone was making fun of something I enjoyed do with/for my kiddos. Why do people think it's okay to make fun of someone's parenting style? I guess that's a-whole-nother post though, so we won't get into that. My search sends me to facebook... doesn't everything these days! I finally find the author I'm looking for though and of course she's complaining on Facebook about the blog and all of her "followers" are trying their best to virtually comfort her and convince her to put her blog post back up. This morning I get on Facebook to find that she has finally re-posted it! Thank God too considering I'm not really a very creative person when it comes to this kind of stuff. So now we have 101 Elf on the Shelf Ideas!
These are seriously some awesome ideas. I haven't had the time to read over all of them but after seeing a photo of cotton balls it gave me an idea of my own (at least I'm hoping it's my own idea and not on the list). Since it doesn't snow in Florida, I was thinking a mock snow ball fight with cotton balls. All of these ideas make me look forward to messing up my house! How fun would that be for the kids to wake up one morning only to find cotton balls spread out and thrown about in the family room?!

          On my journey to restore my children's imagination I've been trying to do some things this year that are a little more age appropriate for Matt and Bri. The last two days we've been working on homemade ornaments. Wednesday was spent mixing the dough, punching out cookie cutter shapes, and baking. We started them kinda late in the day since the kids had school and they take about 2 hours to bake enough to get hard. I'm sure we still have a few semi-soft ones... I get a little impatient at times. 

Last night we painted them... wait for it... with our fingers! After the kids went to bed and the paint was dried I added some glitter paint to a few of the ornaments just to give them that extra sparkle. I have to say, I had fun making them and I definitively think they turned out pretty cute.  I'm not sure if we are going to put some varnish on them or not. The recipe doesn't say anything about doing the varnish but "The Chew" says you should.  Jay thinks we should. Either way, I can't wait to hang them on the tree!

I need more ideas though. Nothing fancy just stuff to keep my older two entertained and not fighting. I'm so tired of the fighting in my house between them. I need the happiness, laughter, and smiles back! 

Christmas is coming!

I'm getting so excited for Brooklyn's first Christmas. I haven't had much of the Christmas spirit since Bri's 1st Christmas. This year is different though and I'm sure it's because of the 3 kiddos. We bought Brooklyn a 3-n-1 Exersaucer, it goes through stages. 1st stage is for 0-3 months, basically it's just a mat that they lay on and play with toys for tummy time. 2nd stage is the exersaucer, she bounce, spin, and rock. Along with the tons of toys that are attached to it. I can't wait for Christmas day to get here in it. I actually tried to get J to let her go ahead and have it but alas, he told me no =(  !  We went Sunday to do the rest of our Christmas shopping. I left Brooklyn with my mom for the first time, I'm not talking about she's been left with other people just not my mom... no... I have never left her with ANYONE before Sunday. I was pretty anxious about it, took me every bit an hour to leave my mom's house to go shopping. Jay made sure to keep my mind off her when we left so I did pretty good overall. Too bad I can't say the same for Brookie though. She threw a fit the whole time I was gone, and clung to me as soon as she seen me. Wouldn't let anyone else hold her.  We picked up a lot of stuff for the kiddos, unfortunately I can't say what they are though. Matt is pretty sneaky and would probably get on here to see if I said anything! I will tell you that we also bought Brookie some clothes, a squigly (I'm not sure they are called, it's a ball that plays sounds, music, counting, and wiggles across the floor), Sophie (She's this amazing 100% natural rubber teething toy from France!) and now that I'm trying to write it all down I can't remember the rest! That's usually how it goes right! We gave her Sophie last night because her gums bother her so much and I don't like giving her orajel too often. She seemed to love it. Not a single inch of it wasn't covered in slobber lol. 

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She finally laughed!

It's been too long!

I really have no excuse as to why I haven't blogged in a while. Laziness maybe?
Anyway, Brooklyn is now 4 months and 2 weeks. At her 4 month check up she was only 12lbs. Her Dr. didn't seem worried though and said that just by looking at her he can tell she's just fine and her weight is nothing to be concerned about. He also said we should wait until about 6 months before starting solids. I'm perfectly okay with that seeings as how I really want to buy a food processor and make her baby food instead of buying the crap at the store that has stuff added into it. 
We are taking her tomorrow to get pictures with Santa. I'm really hoping she will cooperate and not start screaming. Not much has been going on lately, just getting ready for Christmas and trying to narrow down Matt's behavioral problems. It's been a constant struggle for us all but we are trying to work through it the best we can.  
I've been working on getting my business up and going. Right now just concentrating on crochet projects but in Feb./March will be doing some sewing. Hopefully by then Brooklyn will let me get more done. She's snoozing away now so I guess it's time to try to lay her in her crib with out her waking up! Night for now!

Some randomness for your enjoyment!

This past week has been horrible! I'm not going to say why, but I will say that it's problems with Matt. Seems to be making it a trend these days. Thank God tomorrow is Friday though! I've spent about 5 hours total today alone organizing lists/coupons for shopping this weekend, not to mention the 6+ hours I spent last week clipping those coupons. Not much really going on around here though, of course there really never is. Shoot, half the time, I don't even want to leave my house anymore! Either way, here's some pics I wanted to share. 

 Little Miss Brooklyn loves drooling/sucking/gnawing on everything and everything she can get near her mouth!

                                                          I'm pretty sure that this is my absolute favorite time of the day. When she nurses, she looks up at me and just stares at me. She rubs my arm and plays with my shirt strap. When it's bedtime, she'll eat till her belly is full then when she knows I'm looking down at her she'll grin real big and let out the cutest laugh ever!

<----- That's the laugh/smile I get right after she eats and knows it's bedtime/nap time!

                                                       Brooklyn and I love being outside this time of day. The breeze is amazing and the temps are just right. And the sky is the prettiest blue!

Matt is actually grounded for the next 2 weeks. He's writing sentences here because he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing!

                                                     Bri's favorite past-time... Reading!

<------ Coupon binder

                                                                         Side view--->

<-------  Coupons!!!


















The difference 25lbs makes

Picture overload!

Brooklyn is 3 months old! (09/27/11)

Laying with Daddy before bed

Laying with her bubby and sissy! 

Look at my feet!

She loves laughing!

Sometimes she'll fall asleep in the weirdest positions!

We ordered Baby First TV, she loves it, so I play the videos on the computer sometimes and she watches them on the laptop. 

Fall at last!

At 5am this morning the news informed me it was officially Fall! Oh how I love fall weather. I will say that it's too bad we live in Florida though. Fall weather in Florida is NOT the same as Fall weather in Arkansas! I miss the beautiful colors of the leaves when they change colors, all the orange and reds. It's really breathtaking, not to mention the perfect temperatures for just about everything! 
Something else really amazing happened today too... Brooklyn laughed for the first time! It was the cutest thing ever and it was a true laugh, not her raspy laugh that sounds more like a grunt/cough either. I stood her up on my dresser where she could see herself in my big mirror. She loved it. She stood there making faces at herself then just started laughing really hard. Jay got his mom on the phone so she could hear Brooklyn laugh too. I tried to get her to laugh when I had Stella on the phone but I guess she had had enough of the mirror by that time. 
  I have a countdown going on till income taxes! I really can't wait. I finally get my sewing machine. I'm in the process of trying to start up a business too. I have this natural talent of sewing and would at least like to put it to good use. I already have my first order and I made it clear that I wouldn't be ready to start until February. She was okay with that too. I'm not looking to start making a bunch of money right away either. I'm trying to keep a realistic mind about everything. I'm am pretty confident that I can do it though. 
     My "All My Children" ended today. It was sad watching it all this week. I don't think there wasn't a day that I didn't cry. I know that sounds pretty dumb but I've been watching this show since I was in Kindergarten. The last show really sucked though. I hated the way the ended it. I mean come on, who ends a show (completely done, never making another one) with a cliffhanger? Who the hell did J.R. shoot? Was it Marissa or did Erica get in the way and she was shot instead? And who was the second person that David had hidden? So many questions and there will never be any answers. I wonder if we could get lucky and they make a movie with all these answers? That would be pretty awesome. Though I know I could never go see it in theaters, definitely have to wait for that one to go on DVD lol. 
   All the kids are finally in bed and now I'm thinking that I should probably get things picked up and get in bed too. Brooklyn hasn't been sleeping as late at night the last few nights. Last night she woke up after 3 1/2 hours. I can't wait for her to start sleeping 5+ hours again! Goodnight everyone! 

What everyone else has been up to lately...

Jay and I are trying to get the kids to start acting their age. They don't seem to understand that they are growing up and they can't continue acting like the baby all the time. We're pretty sure Matt is going through puberty already. I don't think I need to go into why I believe that lol. All I'm going to say about that is it's just way to early for me to be dealing with that issue! The kids started school a week and a half ago. So far so good. Matt's teacher has been out though due to an emergency eye surgery. I'm trying to get the kids to invite some friends over to stay the night next weekend. Bri has to have someone other than Angelina though because I swear those two act like they are inseparable and she really needs to make other friends as well. Matt just doesn't really get along with many people so I'm really trying to encourage him to make more friends. I even told him to find someone with an Xbox and they can bring their controller over and the boys can play Xbox together. Hopefully he can control his attitude and make some friends. Speaking of his attitude, we have an appointment for the 12th for him to start seeing a psychologist instead of his psychiatrist, we don't really care to much for her! This new one we are seeing is supposed to set up plans for us to work with him better at home as well and not just give him meds. With the onset of puberty, his attitude towards people is getting so much worse. I seriously hope we can get this under control! And soon!

Brooklyn is 2 months (8/27/11)

Our baby girl is 2 months old already. This time seems to be flying... it's almost scary! She learned how to roll over from her belly to her back at 6 1/2 weeks. It was amazing watching her. She would get so frustrated at herself then when she would finally turn over she would be as calm as can be. She's smiling more and I swear she's laughing too. Her smile is so beautiful, especially when you are talking to her and she just looks up at you and grins so big or when she smiles after getting kisses. It just makes me feel so warm inside knowing that I'm making my baby girl happy. She had her 2 month check up/shots last Monday (3 days ago). She's now 9lbs 14oz and 22 1/2 inches long. They gave her that first shot in her thigh and she screamed louder than I've ever heard her scream. I was holding one hand and Jay was holding the other while rubbing her hair, we tried making her feel safe but it just didn't help. As soon as she started crying, so did I. I tried holding it back as much as I could though. When the Dr. laid her on her belly, she got up on her arms with her head and shoulders up and was showing them how big she is. The Dr. said they don't usually start doing that until around 4 months. She's so determined already to do everything. Poor baby doesn't realize she needs to pace herself! I think she wants to grow up faster than she's meant to. I don't want her to grow up yet, I want her to stay my perfect little baby that plays with my shirt and necklace while she's nursing. 

She's growing so fast!

Brooklyn is growing up so fast on me. It's exciting and sad all at the same time! She's only 6 weeks old and already trying to roll over on to her back. It was so exciting to watch. I'm really glad Jay was home to watch her too though. We know he's going to miss so much while he's at work. It was amazing to watch her lay on her back, prop her head up with her arm and start kicking her legs while scooting her butt while trying to turn. It's just so awesome how they know what to do already with out having to be taught. She was getting so mad that she couldn't do it. She'd cry the whole time she was trying to flip but then would be calm as could be when she would stop to take a break. She just amazes me every day!

Weight Loss Plan starts Sunday!

Monday I will finally hit 6 weeks postpartum! I know I probably could have started a weight loss plan sooner than this but I really wanted to wait just to be 100%. Found a site with a week by week (4 week plan) meal plan w/shopping list. Looks like it might get a little pricey but that's okay. I've lost 23lbs by just giving birth and breastfeeding but I would love to lose 45-50 more pounds. I admit that I will need the help too since I've never really known how to do this on my own. I'm holding my head up and not giving up though. I HAVE TO DO THIS! I have to do it for my family and my babies! So I guess the plan for now is to print out the meal plans and figure out how much of each thing I will have to buy. I know I will have to make changes to them since I don't like greek yogurt (found that one out today! That crap tastes like spoiled cream cheese!) and I definitely don't like fish. Speaking of fish, why is fish one of the main things they put in diet plans? Do they not realize that not everyone (me) likes fish!  Guess I better get off here and get these printed off before I end up closing them out! 

There's a name for that!

I'm going to be honest here... while raising Matt and Bri I have totally been winging it this whole time! I mean seriously, 11 years ago the internet was nothing like it is today. Needless to say, I did my research this time around. I knew there were better ways to do things and wanted to find out what I could do to be a better parent from the beginning. After doing my research and deciding what was best for me, baby, and my family I now know that I fall into a particular group of people, this also happens to be a group that many people (I know personally, and also those that live in my region) don't exactly agree with. The good news? I'm the type of person that couldn't care less what people think of me and my decisions! So let's go over this group that I fall into... or maybe it's groups? 


I don't exactly fall completely into the crunchy group as I don't follow the entire "natural" parenting plan. I think I'm more Semi-Crunchy! What do I mean you ask? Well, IF I could have had my epidural then I would have, though experiencing it natural for the first time without a choice leaves me feeling very differently and I can say 100% that if Jay and I have another in a few years, I will be doing it natural, this time it will be planned though! I don't grow my own garden for food (I kill plants, not intentionally though!), had I went to 39 weeks, I WOULD have agreed to be induced (once again, not sure if I would feel this way again though). However, I do breastfeed, cloth diaper,and  plan on making my own baby food.
I also fit into the category of Attachment parenting. I fit into this group of people because I breastfeed, babywear, co-sleep, want to parent a more natural way when it comes to comforting instead of allowing my baby to cry or self soothe (it just breaks my heart to watch her cry). I had no idea this was a "type" of parenting that had a name and all. I just thought I was doing what I felt was best for us. Then with a little research I found myself reading about attachment parenting on Dr.Sears.com... I'm pretty sure I used to secretly make fun of people on babycenter when they would post threads about "following" the Dr. Sears parenting books but now look at me doing reading on his page! I guess now I'm eating my words! Oh well, we are happy and that's all that matters... right?  Well, maybe I'll post some links a little later, right now though... time for dinner!