Tuesday, December 14, 2010

What I've been working on - don't look mom.

Ok...I wanted to blog about what all I've been working on around here to use my creative energies.

Mom...(as in Debbie)...do not read this. Your Christmas present is included here.

First of all, my kids are having a joint birthday party at their school on Friday. We are sending princess invites to the girls and star wars invites to the boys. For the girls, I made princess dresses out of paper and I sewed a little bit of tulle to make the skirt. I did some glitter glue and stuff to decorate. The party details are printed and glued to the front.


The boys' invites are C3P-O masks that have the party info glued on the back. They are laminated for durability.

Next I made GirlM this skirt. It is called the Market Skirt and the tutorial to make it is found here at my favorite tutorial sight.


This weekend I finished making the Men's shirt dress for GirlM from the same website above. I still need to exchange the buttons for more feminine ones, but I will go out this week to buy them.

I made the shirt that GirlM is wearing in the following photo into a shirt from a onsie. It was a huge onsie and since she is potty trained, I needed to make it big girl friendly. I also made the pants that she is wearing yesterday morning before the kids got up. It was SUPER easy!

Finally, I made this apron for my mom for Christmas. This was a labor of love and took two days to make. Thanks Mistie for helping me learn to make this a quality item. I love it!

Oh...I'll go ahead and post here two videos of my kiddos singing. BoyD is singing "Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer" in Spanish and GirlM is singing "Jesus Loves Me". Both these kids are suffering from an infection and are on antibiotics. And it is early. That is why they look so puffy eyed and tired. Even so, they are pretty cute. If you are seeing this on facebook, you won't be able to view the videos and will have to go to my blog to see them. They are worth it!

Thursday, December 09, 2010

Body After Baby Challenge Week 2

Ok...I only have like 5 minutes here to blog because I just put the baby down for a morning nap and I have to finish making a sewing project. I may only get 45 minutes of time w/o him.

I have to report on my progress with Mama Notes Body After Baby Challenge. My goals were to work out (cardio) 3 times, do some strength stuff on the Wii, drink 2L of water every day, go to bed by 9:30, reduce my caffeine, and reduce portion sizes. And lose some weight.

I did work out 3 times...2 times doing some cardio with my Wii fit. I held the baby while doing step and this hula hoop thing for 32 min and then for 26 min. I was trying to make it harder and more of a strength thing. It worked! I was sweating and I was very sore the next day. I also took the dog to the park and instead of just throwing the ball, I would take off running and then try to beat the dog to the ball. I drank maybe 1L of water a couple of the days, and I did reduce portion sizes.

I really want to drink more water! It is hard because I am running all over the place and can't keep track of my cup! haha! And going to bed by 9:30? HA-HA! I was lucky to get to bed by 10:30 this week. And then I get up at 6am and I am just too drained to do any morning work outs. Plus, I have sick BabyK who is waking up to nurse every night. I really just don't have the physical energy to work out while this sleepy. This week I MUST get to bed earlier.

I did drop 2.5 lbs, though! That I am pumped about. It is much easier to keep motivated when the weight comes off.

So, to add to last weeks goals, this week the challenge is to write down everything I eat and to cut out one unhealthy habit. The second part is going to be a challenge. I really don't have very many unhealthy habits that I am not already addressing with the Body After Baby challenge! I mean, I need to drink more...check. I need to sleep more...check. I do drink a cup of coffee every morning but I have limited myself to just one and I am not willing to give it up. I do eat sugar, but I have been limiting myself to like one cookie a day. If I gave that up entirely I think I would rebel! I mean...one cookie (or sweet thing) a day is not an unhealthy habit! (at least not in my book...we are into everything in moderation, not elimination!)

If any body has any ideas of what I might could give up, please let me know. I am going to try to continue with my above stated goals and do better this week.

Keep praying for me if you get a chance. I am no busier than any other mom, but finding time to prioritize exercise as well as having had enough sleep to be able to do it is difficult. (Some of you maybe thinking that sleeping from 10:30-6am waking up once to feed the baby is plenty of sleep and I just need to suck it up. I am one of those people who really need 9hrs of uninterrupted sleep to feel full of energy. I know that is unrealistic with 3 kids 4 and under, but if I could even get 8, I think I would have enough energy to function well.)

Thanks for reading! I hope this wasn't too long, but it is good accountability for me.

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Body After Baby Challenge Week 1

So I'm participating in something called the Body After Baby Challenge from one of my favorite blogs Mama Notes. It is an 8 week challenge to get our bodies back. Back in the slimmest pants we own, back into run up and down the stairs w/o problems kind of shape, back to having the energy we had in our second trimester of pregnancy.

Today is the start and I am committing to participate and blog about it. This post is about goals, my plan, etc. I am not sure what all will be involved in the process, but I'm up for it. I think.

I took a before picture this morning, but I am positive that no one here wants to see it. I want to lose 10lbs total (over the next 2 months) but more than the pounds, I want to loose inches. I am not unhappy with my body, but I know that the older I get the more difficult it will be to stay trim, so I don't want to start the difficult years already 10lbs heavier than ideal. Also, I want to try to go down one pants size. The size I wear now is fine, but it is a little too big...just so that if I don't wear a belt, they are falling down by the end of the day. But the next size down is just too small.

My plan: I am going to try to work out 3 days a week. (treadmill or video) I can't afford the gym and going for walks is off limits for safety issues. I want to do the Wii fit 2 days a week (in addition to the cardio) and find someway to get some strength training. The Wii fit has some of that stuff. I am going to try to reduce my portion sizes during meals and I want to drink 2L of water (or refresco) a day. I want to cut my caffeine down to one cup of coffee a day and I want to be in bed by 9:30 every night.

My challenges: I am nursing...I need to be eating enough good stuff to get all my calories for my milk production. I am super busy with 3 kids. Finding time to work out w/o getting up at 5:30 every morning is going to be a challenge. I'll let you know how I work that one out. I live in Guatemala: I can't just go walking around the block with the kiddos in tow to get some cardio. I have to exercise a lot of caution when walking around. Maybe I could walk the mall or something. I love to bake: That is what I do and I do it well. I like to make apple pie and pecan pie and cake balls and homemade yeast rolls and cake cookies, and chocolate chip cookies and homemade chicken pot pie. I have skinny kids that need calorie dense food.

Ok...so feel free to join me in my adventure. Feel free to leave me encouraging comments. Feel free to pray for me that I can balance all of the priorities in my life (hubby, kids, home school, service, personal time with the Lord, exercise, taking care of the house, church responsibilities etc)