Halloween Decor 2013

This past weekend, I decided to stop talking about how I wanted to rearrange the furniture and I actually did it. Of course, when you start to move stuff around like that you tend to finally get around to actually giving it the good cleaning that you've been neglecting, oh, just all summer.  Since everything was looking all fresh and clean, I figured, hey, as long as I'm doing this, I may as well put out the fall decor too, right?

It was a project.

I really like how it is now.  The couch is kind of close to the tv, but since the biggest open area for play is now off to the side, it won't be blocked by little people when we're trying to watch something.  I moved my big plant into the living room from the kitchen and it really helps to break up that big wall.  The armchair being angled in the corner helps to create a conversation area and doesn't block the patio slider, causing it to feel closed off.

It makes me smile to see some of my favorite things on display.  It's no secret that fall, although brief, late and pretty weak around these parts, is my favorite season.

This little "arsenic" bottle may be one of my very favorite Halloween decorations. The skull is plastic and was three dollars at the Walmarts last year, and the old books were thrift store finds.

I found the larger primitive guy at TJ Maxx a few weeks ago.  The smaller one was .99 at Goodwill last year! The printable was free online and the frame was another Goodwill find for a few cents.  I leave that up all year, where I can see it, as a reminder.  I truly believe gratitude is a HUGE indicator of happiness.

We moved the piano from under the kitchen bar to the wall where the tv was previously.  Since I lost the 2x4 Expedit that we had been using as a sofa table in the move (it's in the kid's room now) I had to find a new home for the lamps.  I finally took the plastic off the shades and put bulbs in them.  It's only been a year since I painted them, and another year since I brought them home!

The pumpkin is fake and was found for a couple of bucks at Goodwill, the stand is vintage Fenton and was a gift from my friend Suzy as were the lace milk glass dishes, the sign was hand painted by me last year or the year before, the runner was found at Goodwill, and the large mirror was $20 from Goodwill too.

Having the lamps over there made it possible to get rid of the big lamp I had on the entry dresser.  It was pretty old and was having some issues.  Besides, it being gone makes it so much easier to decorate that flat surface now!

I love my front entry display.  It's all stuff that I had previously, including the candy.  I can't stand candy corn but think it's pretty in an apothecary jar so I just bag it up after Thanksgiving to reuse the following year. I actually do that with a lot of seasonal candy.

I think this bunch of candy corn is like four or five years old, so yeah... don't eat the display candy at my house without checking on it's age first!  ;)

The black and white striped "candies" are actually wooden dowels painted black and wrapped with white ribbon.  I made the tassels and the labels on the jars.  The glitter skulls are from Kirkland home (a few years ago) and the black amethyst glass dish holding them is vintage from eBay. Looks like there's another one just like it on there now too.

I set up this little vignette on the end of the kitchen bar.  I think it needs something more in the back corner though, after looking at this photo.  The best part of this display is that after Halloween, all I have to do is put away the witch hat, turn the carved pumpkin around so you can see the side that says "Give Thanks" and boom!  It's still seasonally appropriate.

Kick butt.

I had a pottery painting playdate of sorts with some of my friends a couple of weekends ago, and this plate was my project.  I copied one of the display samples, and other than apparently forgetting the second coat of green paint on the H (whoops!) I think it came out pretty good!  I painted each one of those letters by hand with an itty bitty paintbrush and it literally took hours.

OCD ftw, yo.

I put it on the table in the bay window/dining area of the kitchen.  I kept it pretty simple in there. I put the vintage globe on there because honestly, I had nowhere else to put it and I just love the colors. The fruit is fake, as is the pumpkin.  Both were found at Goodwill in years past.

I didn't put everything out.  I put out what fit and if something didn't have a space, I left it in the bins.  I was very conscious of not wanting to overfill the spaces this year.  Usually I use every inch of space, but I left some, like in the middle of the mantel over the tv and next to the lamps on the piano.  I did go out and buy a few pumpkin and apple scented candles to add to the fall feeling in our house, but really, I didn't add a whole lot to the decor this year.

It's interesting, because on Saturday night when I was all done I had this feeling of contentment inside me.  Not the usual, "I cleaned and my house looks good" contentment,  or the feeling of "I decorated and it looks nice!" contentment either.  It was like a lightness in my soul, I guess.  Like my soul was a dusty rug and someone had given it a good shaking and airing out.

You know how some people who live in darker or "gloomy" climates suffer from SAD?  I've been feeling like I get a reverse version of that, from too much freaking sun. Seriously, it's summer and too hot to go outside six months of the year!  I don't like to be hot at all, and my meds make me hotter.  I rarely wear a jacket or coat in the winter.  I live for cloudy and rainy days.

I Googled it and discovered that reverse SAD is actually a real thing, and I have all the symptoms with the exception of loss of appetite/weight loss.  I actually gained about 25 pounds in the past six months though, so that can't really be ignored because that's not normal either.

We don't really get cooler weather here until around Halloween, so I still have another month of awful heat to go.  It's especially hard to deal with now because of everyone on social media posting about how AWESOME Fall is OMG!!! and also because I have to do school drop off and pickup every day so I have to go outside in the middle of the day. Yuck.

Still, I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now, and that, my friends, is a very good thing!

Big Boned

Friday afternoon, while at physical therapy, I totally lost my shit.

I hate when that happens.

I've been going to physical therapy for my knee and my tailbone for about two months now.  While my knee has shown marked improvement, my tailbone continues to be, well, a literal pain in my butt.  Physical therapy involves my physical therapist massaging the area around the coccyx to loosen the tight muscles that they think are causing me pain.

That's right - twice a week I get my butt massaged.  It's so awesome. 

I don't know when I became such a prude about my own body, but it was really hard to accept that this man I had just met was going to by rubbing my behind.  I mean, I've never even had a male doctor before, nor am I comfortable with the idea of ever having one.  However, in the interest of getting better, I sucked it up, so to speak, and dealt with it.  When his assistant started to work on me, I told myself that he was very busy, and hey, at least this was a woman.  I could deal with it.

Then on Friday the new guy, who I had only seen once before was instructed to do a treatment on me.  A treatment that called for my pants to be pulled down quite a ways so that my butt crack was exposed.  I didn't like it, but what was I going to do?

Then it was time for the massage, and another girl who I had seen before but had never worked on me was sent my way.  She too had my pants down pretty low.  And that's when it started.

First, there was just a strong feeling of unease.  Then the more I thought (obsessed) over it, the more my hands started to shake.  As I laid there after my massage with the ice pack over my lower back, I started to feel the familiar tightening in my throat, where a lump was beginning to form.  I told myself repeatedly to just calm down, that I was overreacting, but do you know what?  The same way a hysterical woman will become more hysterical when someone else speaks those words to her, I become more upset when I say those words to myself.  It's awful.

So I'm laying there and tears start leaking from my eyes.  I was frantically wiping them away, first with my hands and then with my shirt, while trying to unsuccessfully will myself not to cry.  I wasn't sobbing or anything, but the tears just kept leaking and I was powerless to stop them.  I knew I had to talk to Chris (my therapist/trainer/nutritionist) before I left or the situation was going to be stained in my head all weekend.

I pulled him aside (by this time it was pretty obvious I was upset) and explained to him what had happened, and why I was upset, and why it was a big deal to me.  He knows about my OCD, but not my childhood or the anxiety disorder or the PTSD.  I confessed that I felt ashamed (because I do) that something that happened over 25 years ago should be able to affect me like this and I can't control it.  He was really nice and apologized.  I guess when you're dealing with people with weight issues, it comes up occasionally.

I confessed to him that sometimes it feels like I'm too broken to fix, so why am I even bothering to put myself through all this?

Earlier in the week we had a discussion about body type.  It seems to me that there's a certain comfort in being a fat kid and saying to yourself, "Hey, I could be skinny if I wanted to, but who wants to starve themselves and do all that work?"  The thing is, when you start to watch your diet and start to diet and you are told that  you will never be able to be tiny because your body type makes it impossible, well, it's discouraging.  All I heard was that I was "big boned."  I didn't know that was a real thing!  I thought that was something that fat people said to make themselves feel better about being fat!

So, when I picture my five foot, four inch frame, here's what I see in my mind:

Oh, not the one on the left.  The gorilla skeleton on the right.  Short, squat, and big boned.  UGH.

I know that's not accurate.  I know that is my mind reacting to things it sees, things it hears, and emotions that I feel in a negative way.  I know that when I run on the treadmill, the reason each footfall makes a loud noise is because it's hollow under the belt, but what my mind tells me is that I'm TOO FAT to run, and I'm TOO BIG to be on there, and those footfalls aren't normal, but rather THUNDEROUS AND LOUD and I'm going to break the machine if I don't stop.

I consistently buy clothes that are too big for my frame because if they are even the slightest bit snug I fear that the hulking bulk of my body will burst forth from them if I lift an arm too high or sit too fast.  I think I have this picture of myself in my head where I'm much, much bigger than I actually am because I feel like it's better than thinking I look thinner than I actually am.

All this time I've been telling myself, At least I'm not in denial about how I look, but actually in a way, I kind of am.

I am making progress, slowly but surely.  I'm eating better than I was three months ago.  I weigh 13 lbs less than my pre-pregnancy weight. I'm down quite a few inches.  I no longer weigh more than my husband.  I've started jogging again and I've been exercising with weights and bands and all that good stuff for two months.  Today I bought a pair of jeans that yes, are a little snug, but they fit and they are two whole sizes smaller than the ones I was wearing to the store.

I just need to keep moving forward and  to get out of my own dang way.

Farewell, Fat A$$

Oh yes, you've heard it before.  I get on the wagon, I fall off, I play in the mud for a while, then I have a baby...

LOL!

Well, a month ago I reported I was back on the wagon.  At that time I weighed in at 188 pounds.  I have been seeing a nutritionist along with my physical therapist for the past four weeks.  I get Physical Therapy for my knee and tailbone twice a week, along with some light exercise when I go in to build up my core and relieve tension from those muscles in my affected areas.  The result of four weeks of work?

Not too shabby!

I'm down ten pounds and a total of nine and a half inches total, including one whole inch from my neck (!!!) and two each from my waist and thighs.  My wedding ring fits for the first time in years and when I tried on a bangle at Target that previously would not go over my hand, it fit!  Easily!!!  What impresses me most is that this was accomplished over Christmas and New Years, plus I had a couple of other cheat days in there too.  You know I didn't watch what I ate on those days.  I've had a chimichanga, pizza, ham, cookies...

What I'm saying is that yes, it's been hard, but I haven't had to give up everything I love.  I just had to learn how and when to eat it, and have those times in moderation.

Oh, and these.  These kept this sugar addict sane.

I'm not a big peanut butter fan.  In fact, up until when I was pregnant recently, I couldn't stand the stuff at all! Now it's just okay, but I still don't love it.  My nutritionist/trainer/physical therapist (really, he's awesome) recommended Sun Butter, which is like peanut butter only it's made from sunflower seeds.  Holy heck is this stuff fantastic!  Bubba likes it too, so we're on our third jar.  :)  This is a recipe the nutritionist recommended, that I tweaked a bit.

Chocolate Banana Sun Butter Smoothie

3/4 cup almond milk
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
1 tablespoon Sun Butter
1/2 banana
handful of ice

Place everything in a blender and blend until smooth.

I use the Single Serve blender I posted about when I started this program.  The lid opens up so all I have to to is pop in a straw and I'm good to go - no extra dishes to wash!  I give Bubba the other half of my banana.  Since that's about all he'll eat at a sitting it works out well.

This smoothie has 245 calories, 11 grams of fat (the good kind, mostly from nuts/seeds), 23 grams of carbohydrates, and sixteen grams of protein.  An adult woman needs about 45 grams a day, so right there you're knocking out a huge amount!  I like to have these for my first meal (I have five) of the day, right after I get out of bed.  This gets my metabolism started and it's fast enough I can whip it together and drink it while I pump.  If I leave out the banana, I can have it for my last meal on the days when I don't feel like eating any more but I know I still need to feed my metabolism.

If you have any questions about what I'm eating, feel free to add me on My Fitness Pal.  I'm splendidmissm and I leave my food diary public so you can see what's on there.

Happy 2013!

Even though it is still looking a lot like Christmas around here (the 12th day of Christmas is Epiphany, January 6th so the decorations stay up until then), in my head, I'm gearing up for a new year.  We have no wild plans tonight.  We're just hanging out at home, probably watching the third Back To The Future installment.  ;)  The boy is really into that time machine car lately!

I'm once again not making resolutions.  Resolutions tend to imply that you find major fault with yourself and need an overhaul.  Have you ever noticed that?  Instead, I like to set goals.  First of all, stick with the diet from the nutritionist.  I'm down seven pounds in two weeks in spite of the three I put back on over Christmas, which is pretty darn good if you ask me!  Not too many people come out this side of the holiday season that much lighter.

Two - I'd like to garden again this year.  Last year I was way too tired and pregnant to even consider digging in the dirt, but this year there's no excuse!  Since planting season starts in January where I live, it's time to get the ball rolling here.

Three - Project Life!  I'm getting back on the wagon. I only made it to the end of April for 2012. At first I was thinking that I failed because I didn't do all 52 weeks, but you know what?  That's four months of our lives that I documented that would not have been documented otherwise.  How can I consider that a failure? I'm going to try again this year and we'll see how it goes.  To celebrate?

New printables!

You know the drill - you must be a fan of my Facebook page to gain access to this PDF.  I use Scribd to host my files, because it's free and it's easy for me to use.  I make these mainly for my own use, but since I spend so much time on them I figured "Hey, why not share?"  When you click the link to access them, Facebook will occasionally ask you to use Facebook Connect to access Scribd.  I HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THIS.  I have been using FBC since it was introduced with no problem, but I understand that some people are against it for whatever reason.  You always have the option of copying and pasting the URL into a new window/tab to avoid the FBC thing.

Please, please, please do not pin these to Pinterest directly from Scribd.  If you would pin them from here, I would appreciate it so much!  Also, this will be the 12th printable I've uploaded to share.  My work has been downloaded literally thousands of times, but I haven't even hit 200 followers on Google.  If you could take a minute to hit the Google thingie over on the right sidebar if you have ever downloaded one of my freebies, or liked one of my recipes, or heck, even if I just entertained you on a bad day!  I'd love that  number to go up a little for the new year.  Thanks!  :)

Have a great and safe New Year!

December 2012 in Photos

Not a whole lot of blogging happening here in December.  I think this may be one of my worst blogging months on record!  Here's most of December documented in photos:

We saw Santa and kept our No Crying Children streak alive.

We sent out Christmas cards.

We got ready for the Mayan Apocalypse.

We painted a keepsake plate at one of those pottery painting places.

I scored some sweet Pyrex.

We read Christmas and Hanukkah books by the light of the Christmas tree.

I finally got cold and busted out a hoodie from college.  That thing had not seen the light of day for probably eight years or so!

I started physical therapy and seeing a nutritionist.  One week into the new diet and I'm not only down 5 1/2 pounds, but my wedding ring (that hasn't fit in almost two years) fits again.

New pjs were procured.

Santa came!

We attended Mass for the first time since the baby was born and she slept through most of it.

I made Christmas dinner and served it all in vintage Pyrex.  Realized I needed a Butterfly Gold 043.

I baked a birthday cake for Jesus and Bubba decorated it.  Kelly was into it... literally.

And finally -

Little Miss turned six months old today!

Hopefully you all had a great December!  I hope to get back to regular posting in the New Year.

They tried to make me go to Rehab...

And I'm gonna go, go go.

Not that kind of rehab.  It's a place called Rehab Arizona, and I will be started the program this week for my stupid knee.  I tried to start Couch to 5k a few months ago but I didn't even make it through the first week of the program due to my knee starting to hurt again.  I was in so much pain for a few weeks after that I finally decided to see my doctor about it.  

She said that I will probably need an MRI but that my insurance company wouldn't even consider covering one until I had received at least four weeks of physical therapy.  She referred me to this place that includes metabolic counseling and a nutritionist with the physical therapy.  You know what that means, right?

\

I'm starting a diet right before Christmas.  AWWW YEAH.

(and this mama needs a pedi.  OY)

I had my consultation yesterday.  We covered the basics of the program, the diet, and I had my measurements taken.  My therapist told me that my body fat percentage was estimated at about 34%.  Not so great, but about what I expected.  I've had it measured before and that's pretty much the number that comes up on a regular basis.

Here's what I didn't expect:  he said that he estimated my lean muscle mass to be about 125 lbs.  Now see, I went in there thinking I was about fifty pounds overweight.  Every BMI chart I've ever seen says that for my height, the most I should weigh is between 135 and 140 pounds.  They also say that at my current weight, I'm clinically obese.

My nutritionist/therapist said no way.  He said based on my lean mass, it would be practically physically impossible for me to get to 135 without losing a lot of lean muscle.  He said if I were to get to that weight, I'd only have about ten pounds worth of fat total on me and I'd look, in his words, "skeletal."

Blew.  My.  Mind.

I mean, like I said, I've had my body fat measured before, lots of times in fact.  This was the very first time that anyone ever mentioned my lean mass.  The focus has always been the fat.  Interesting, huh?  He told me he wouldn't want me to get any lower than 145, and 150 would be ideal for my frame. So, instead of having fifty pounds to lose I only have to lose about 35.  Kick butt.

He also said that my metabolism has to be working like crazy based on what I'm eating and the fact that my weight has stayed the same.  As one of his "thinner" (HA!) clients and coupled with the fact that I'm relatively young (HA HA!) and healthy, he estimates that I shouldn't have too much trouble losing that 35 pounds.

At that point he said I looked shocked, and I admitted I was.  I told him I had this idea in my head of what my "healthy" weight should be for all these years, and to hear that I should weigh 15 pounds more than that just seemed crazy.  He said, "Well, you have a lot of lean muscle under there."  I was like, "But that much?"

He laughed and said "Girl, look at your legs!!!  You are strong!"

Huh.  So there's that.

I started the diet today and have been tracking my food on My Fitness Pal.  (ooh, wanna be my friend?  I'm splendidmissm)  I have to eat FIVE TIMES A DAY and the first meal has to be within 30 minutes of when I get up.  This is going to be tricky since most days I don't eat until I've been up for at least two hours!  I pump first thing (20 minutes) then feed the baby (an hour) and then there's prep time (15 - 30 minutes depending on what I have) so that goes by quickly.  Solution?

Protein shakes.  I killed two blenders in the past year so I bought one of these:

That's what my trainer uses and he said he's had his for two years, so that's promising!  Also, if it does break, I'm only out sixteen bucks!  Much better than $100.  :)  It's so easy to toss some frozen berries, a scoop of protein powder and a little almond milk (very little dairy allowed on this diet, which is fine since I haven't really had much dairy since I started the failure that was TED) in there first thing and just sip that while I pump and feed the baby.  After I take care of all that it's pretty much time for my second meal and I'll have time then to concentrate on something more involved.

I start the actual physical therapy part of the program on Thursday.  Not only will they be working on my knee issues, but will also address my tailbone, which I did NOT break by spending too much time on my butt.  Turns out, it's probably giant baby pregnancy related.  Praise the Lord, because seriously?  Wouldn't breaking one's ass by sitting on it too much be the ultimate fat kid move?

Meet TED.

Well, the baby still isn't eating.

Don't get me wrong - since I figured out the business with the lipase, she's eating more than she did before.  She was taking in between 17 and 21 ounces of milk on average before, and for the week after she was between 24 and 26 most days.  She even took in 28 ounces one day, which is incredible!  The GI specialist said she should be taking in between 24 and 30 ounces a day, so this was great.

However, a week or so after we started on the fresh-milk-only plan, she started to not want to eat again.  Just making it to 20 ounces was a struggle.  I figured that it took 20 minutes to pump, about 10 or so to wash bottles and pump parts, and 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get her to finish a six ounce bottle.  She eats five times a day.  Feeding the baby is almost literally a full time job!

I cried a lot this week.

When am I supposed to give attention to my other child?  When am I supposed to take care of stuff like dusting and laundry?  When am I supposed to take care of myself?  Too many days passed where 2 pm would roll by and find me still not having eaten anything.  I swear to you one day I ate half a can of nuts I found in the pantry simply because it was something I could grab with one hand and eat while pumping.

So, the Maalox didn't work, she doesn't like the Duocal in her milk, not one of the three doctors that have seen her can find a thing wrong, and she rejects formula.  Oh, please don't get me started on formula!  I am not breastfeeding because I have some sort of hippie Earth mother militant lactivist dedication to only giving my child breastmilk.  I'm doing it because it's all she will take, even if it is just small amounts!  We've tried four different formulas, including soy and the result has been the same each time - she takes a couple of swigs off the bottle, realizes what is inside, then spits it all back out.

I cannot afford to try every formula on the market to just have to toss them after one bottle.  I don't need to be judged for being "stubborn" and insisting on feeding my child my milk.  If the girl would take formula I'd do it in a heartbeat, because her eating is the most important thing right now.

Which is why I'm embarking on the last resort suggested by the GI specialist.  It's the Total Elimination Diet - also known as TED.  For the next three weeks, in an effort to clean out any possible irritants from my system, I can only eat the following:

turkey
lamb (I don't eat this)
rice
white potatoes
sweet potatoes
zucchini
yellow squash
pears (don't particularly care for these either)

I can use salt and pepper for seasoning, as well as olive oil for cooking.

Keep in mind I've been on a pretty high fat diet in an effort to make my milk as fatty as possible, so this is going to be a shock to my system!  Today was my first day and all I can think about is food.  People post photos of food on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  Every other commercial on television is for food.  There's still pumpkin pie in the fridge.  I've had my husband eating meals of leftovers all day so the stuffing and mashed potatoes and apple bread won't be around to tempt me.

I went to the grocery store yesterday and bought some zucchini and pears.  I picked up one each of the four kinds Target had to see what kind I liked best.  Luckily we have a lot of leftover turkey in the house and THANK THE LORD for having me discover a few weeks ago that I liked sweet potato fries!  I don't like sweet potatoes, but when they're fried they're pretty good!

So, that's where I am.  I'm so sad I'm going to miss the Peppermint Chocolate Chip shakes at Chik Fil A, and chocolate covered Peppermint Jo Jo's from Trader Joe's, and egg nog ice cream.  Every time I get tempted, I just need to remind myself of my Baby Doll, and know it's not worth it.

As an aside, I weighed 186.5 lbs this morning, which is two pounds less than I did five days ago.  Who loses weight over Thanksgiving?!??!?  Anyway, I'm interested in seeing how this affects my weight.

This Transitional Body

As of two days ago, when I planned on writing this post (whoops!), I had lost all but 1.5 pounds of  the weight I gained while pregnant.  That's 29 pounds - BOOM! - gone in three weeks despite eating like a freaking horse.  A rather indulgent horse, might I add.  Did I do anything special to make this happen?  As a matter of fact, I did.

I'm breastfeeding.

I pretty much had the same thing happen after my last pregnancy, for the same reason.  I had people tell, me it was a fluke, that it only worked that way because it was my first, that it would be much, much harder the next time with the next baby to lose the weight.  

I love when naysayers are wrong.   :)

Now, does this mean that I'm thin or at a healthy weight?  Um, no.  I started off trying to get pregnant at 195 lbs.  I started doing boot camp workouts with Boot Camp Babes in in two months I lost 10 pounds and over 13 (!!! - I'm a believer in boot camp!!!) inches, bringing my weight to 185 lbs.  I stopped working out and tracking my calories on My Fitness Pal when I got my positive test results.  So, while I can in all honesty say I've lost the pregnancy weight, I still have plenty to lose.

This is what I look like this week.

Also, I'd like to point out that just because I may be back at my pre-pregnancy weight, this in no way means that my body has returned to the way it looked before I got pregnant.  Check out the side view:

My belly did NOT stick out that far before!  This is with "scary pants" on under the dress too.  I can't really suck it in any farther either.  It's just this gross, squashy, extra skin that will sort of jiggle when I tap it.  SO GROSS and terribly unattractive, not to mention hard to dress!

I'm simply not big enough for maternity pants any longer.  They won't stay up.  Putting on regular pants is like giving myself a muffin top on steroids!  Sure, I could size up, but since that area is so soft and squashy it won't hold up a waistband so I'd be back to my original problem of having to hike up my pants every five minutes  No es bueno.

My solution?  Dresses and skirts.  I'm finding that skirts don't bind my flab as bad as pants, and they stay up better.  Also, they're a bit cooler and comfortable.  Now that I've learned about Body Glide from Lindsay, I don't have to worry about chub rub either.  For the first time since I was a kid I can wear a skirt without shorts underneath to prevent heat rash!  YES!

The problem is finding things I like, that look good on my short, still chubby body, and are both comfortable and affordable.  I just don't want to spend a lot of money on temporary clothes, you know?  The dress in the first two photos I bought last week on clearance for $30 at the Gap.  It's one of the few times I've ever tried on a maxi dress and not had it drag on the ground!  Also, this is a SMALL.  Wha?

In very timely fashion, I got invited to another blogger event at DownEast Basics this week.  I was excited for an opportunity to get out of the house and just be able to take my time trying on a bunch of different things.  They have really nice casual clothes that are perfect if you want to look put together but not over the top dressy, so I like to get things there occasionally.

At first, I was thinking I'd get some new tee shirts and tank tops.  The Wonder Camisole is seriously my favorite tank top ever.  I've been buying them for years, since before they even had store around here and were just a cart in the mall.  They're long, so you don't have to worry if you put your arms over your head you're gonna flash your belly, or worse, if you squat that your backside will be exposed.  They come in lots of colors and they're cheap so you can get tons of colors.

All my tee shirts are a few years old and have teeny mystery holes around the belly button area.  They've also been a bit stretched out by my pregnancy.  I figured they could use replacing too since that's what I wear most of the time.  After I thought about it though, I realized tee shirts could be a problem with my nursing tanks (I can't find a nursing bra I like) so I nixed that idea and began to browse around the store more.

I tried on a few dresses and quickly realized that, although cute and comfortable, most dresses wouldn't work for this period in my life.  I'd have to strip completely to have access for breast feeding! I wouldn't be able to wear them out anywhere, which would be lame. I decided to move on to skirts.  I figured they could be paired with tank tops and cardigans, right?  That would provide easy enough access.

I loved the print on this one.  The colors were gorgeous too.

I did not like how wide it made my bottom half look.  There were too many gathers for my hips and the length made me look stumpy.  I did, however, like how my chest looked in this tank top.  DANG.  Heh.

I liked this tank in theory... but on it wasn't very flattering on me.  Sad.  The mustard color was just right and I loved the little fabric flowers at the neckline.

This skirt is made out of jersey knit and is as comfortable as a tee shirt.  It looks just fine with a tank top for hanging out around the house, and when I leave the house I just toss a light cardigan on top.  Easy!  In fact, I liked it so much I went back a day later and bought another one in a pretty olive green color.  If I had been able to find a black one in my size (MEDIUM!  I think I was wearing my clothes too big before) I would have got one of those too.  Best part - they're on sale right now for only $25 each, which I think is pretty reasonable as I can wear them even as I lose a bit more weight (hopefully!) in the coming months.

I also considered the CUTEST yellow cardigan, but I already have two yellow cardigans, so I was strong and left it in the store... *sniff*

Oh, and please notice the difference in photo quality between my point and shoot in the first two photos and my iPhone in the last three.  *sigh*  I miss my old Canon point and shoot.

***Disclaimer - DownEast Basics did not ask me to write a review of their products or store; however I did receive a gift card for attending the blogger event.  All opinions are my own.

February Mish Mash

I know there are probably a lot of blog posts being written today that start with something along the lines of "I can't believe it's February already!!!"  I can.  January seemed really long to me for some reason, and I'm not sure why.  Since it is a new month though, it's time to revisit my goals for January and establish new ones for February.

Goal one - Take better care of myself

I went to Lush and bought myself some pretty smelling soaps.  I also replaced the crappy conditioner I was using with a better one and a conditioning treatment.  I can already see a difference in my hair!  I definitely shaved my legs more than twice and even used a self tanner a few times.  The polish on my nails is all chippy though.  Dang.

Goal two - Floss EVERY DAY.

Big fat FAIL.  I started off strong the first week and a half.  It was pretty cool because this time my gums only bled the first three days, not for a week and a half like last time I tried this.  Then I got sick, and all that flossing went by the wayside.  I never took it up again.  Why must this be so hard for me???

Goal three - Take off eye makeup before bed.

Again, this goal started out strong.  I bought some makeup remover wipes and I'd do it while I was watching television at night.  I missed a few nights, but I think I got it off more nights than I missed.  I need to work harder on this.

Goal four - Get organized!

I did really well on this.  I cleaned  out the bathroom medicine cabinets when I switched the  bathrooms, and I also cleaned out and organized under the bathroom sinks.  The pantry got an overhaul and cleaning out too.  It is no longer scary and I no longer drop crap on my head when I look for stuff.  It's nice!

Goal five - Eat more stuff that's good for me

I've definitely been doing better on this one.  My food aversions seem to have gone away for the most part.  I'm eating more regular food at home and have added in a lot of fruits and veggies that I was missing before. I can't even tell you how many clementines I've had!  I do think I need to start eating bananas (gross) though, 

because I've been waking up with my calves feeling very tight and I think that means my old friend Charley Horse may be ready to start making his visits soon.

Here are my goals for February:

Goal one - Participate in the February Photo A Day Challenge.

All through January I kept seeing this little prompt pop up on Facebook and Twitter, but I ignored it at first.  After a while though, I thought it looked fun how people were putting their own interpretations on the prompts for each day.  I decided I'd try it for February.  At the very least it will help me to have more photos in my Project Life album, right?  Details here.

 Here's my photo for day one.

Don't worry - I don't plan on posting them each day.  I may just do it once a week.  I will be doing them all with Instagram.  You can follow me there - my name is splendidmissm.

Goal two - Work on the before bed routine for myself

This includes the flossing and makeup removal things.

Goal three - Clean out the misc. cupboard in the kitchen and swap it with the pots and pans cupboard.  I think they'll work better this way.  Also, we do NOT need that George Foreman grill anymore.  We haven't used it once since we moved in here!

Goal four - Finish the December Daily.  Really.  Get some printer ink and another package of photo paper and just do it already!

Also I wanted to note ...

I was 19 weeks on Sunday.  I started to feel the little baby flutter movements near the end of week 17.  By the end of last week, the kicks were more definite and would happen in little groups.  Last night, this baby was kicking hard enough that I could see it from the outside.  My husband saw it too.  She's just growing so fast in there!  I checked my blog archives (which is yet another reason why blogging is awesome) and I didn't see Bubba move until 23 weeks.  Crazy!

Last year I posted this photo of a very simple garland I made.  This year, I was too lazy to decorate for Valentine's day.  However, I would like to offer you those vintage Valentine printables again in case you'd like to make one for yourself.  Just "Like" my Facebook page to access the free downloads!

That Mythical 2nd Trimester Energy

I know you've all heard about it, and maybe even experienced it - that burst of energy you're supposed to get when you enter your second trimester of pregnancy, after you've been exhausted for the first three months.  I'll be nineteen weeks on Sunday so I'm well out of the first trimester, yet I've still been dragging.  I just keep telling myself, ANY DAY NOW!  Any day now I'm not going to feel like a poop sammich!  Any day now I'm going to want to get off the couch and DO something.  Any day now I'll be able to leave the house without needing to stop and sit every so often.

ANY DAY NOW.

Seriously, if you want some idea of how much energy your body uses to grow a baby and its little baby house in your belly, think about this:  For the past four months, I've been almost completely sedentary.  Some days, walking across the living room into the kitchen for a drink of water just seemed like entirely too much work.  I find myself starting to think about nap time about an hour and a half after I get out of bed.  My child has been watching entirely too much television and YouTube (ooh, but he's learned a LOT of letter sounds!).  It's horrible.

Now let's consider my diet.  I've been living on takeout almost exclusively, with the exception of the past two weeks.  I've had some serious food aversion issues.  Everything sounded absolutely disgusting.  Also, I didn't get the feeling of being hungry or full like normal.  So what would happen is that I'd be grossed out all day by the idea of food, but then one thing would start to sound okay.  The more I thought about that thing, the better it sounded.  That's how I'd know when I was getting hungry.

If I tried to eat anything besides that one food, it would taste weird, like a chemical, almost soapy taste.  It was bizarre and frustrating.  When I did eat, I wouldn't ever get to feeling full.  What would happen is that whatever I was eating would totally start to gross me out again, so I'd have to stop.

What this meant was that we pretty much stopped going grocery shopping.  We'd get staples like milk and cereal here and there, but for the most part, if I bought something that sounded okay it would sit in the fridge forever because it wouldn't sound okay the next day and would go to waste.  This also meant eating out almost every day.  This is bad on so many levels!

So I went from living on 1200 calories a day and exercising regularly to all  of a sudden being a slug and eating take out for four months, and do you know what?  I've only gained three pounds since Halloween.  Crazy huh?  This baby is taking everything and putting it to work!  I wish my metabolism was ALWAYS this good!

Of course, the tiredness and the food aversions had to wind down eventually.  In the past two weeks I've been able to eat more normally, thank goodness.  Yesterday I even managed to have a pretty productive day.  I did more yesterday than I think I've done in the past two months combined!

I finished another bib for the baby.  I'm totally into monograms for this little girl.  I did a Google image search for "K monogram" and found this one.  I used my Glad Press and Seal method to get it on the bib.

I started to tackle the second bougainvillea on the side of our house.  These things are seriously overgrown weeds, I tell ya.  I should take a picture of some of the massive thorns this thing has.  Some are about an inch long!  It's awful and I hate it.

I watched the boy ride his bike for a while.  He's gotten pretty good with it.  He can coast almost the whole length of the driveway now, as well as when he turns onto the sidewalk from the driveway.  I tried to teach him to put his feet back on the footrest, but he hasn't quite gotten that part yet.

(please pardon messy garage kthanxbye)

Bubba and I made cupcakes after I fixed us lunch and we had eaten.  The poor kid was struggling with that hand beater, and then I realized that I showed him how to use it with his right hand.  I'm going to get used to adjusting for my little lefty eventually, right?

I also did five (!!!) loads of laundry, a few pages in my December Daily album, printed and cut a few more journaling cards for my Project Life album, pulled weeds in the back yard, and filed my nails.  Whoa.

My husband came home with these the other day.  MELT MY HEART, why dontcha?  Bubba is obsessed with them.  He carries them around and talks about how they're for the baby, and they're baby sister's socks and they're so cute. He asks where they are at least a couple times a day.  I love it.