I so totally flopped on my diet last week. And it was obvious since I didn’t lose any more weight. Oh well. Today is a new day…

My downfall was dairy. I told you I was trying to cut back on it since I’ve read in more than one place, that dairy can actually be a diet saboteur. I don’t know why since it ranks low on the GI, but whatever, I’m not a scientist. I do however now know that I can’t deprive myself of it for long. I’m too much of a yogurt, cheese and sour cream lover! Not sour cream by itself, mind you, but in dishes, and dips, yum!

Anyway, I made it to Wednesday very reluctantly last week. I don’t know why it is but whenever I do the “low carb” thing I just never feel full. I’m starving all the time, it’s weird. But Wednesday came and I just caved in when I saw the crock of homemade yogurt in the fridge. *sigh* My new favorite thing in the whole wide world is homemade plain yogurt with a dollop of real maple syrup on top. Just bliss!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!

And homemade yogurt is so much better than the kind you get in the store! It really is SO simple to make it! You’ve got to give it a try!! I’ve been making it for over a year now, and I love to do it! It’s so cheap compared to what you pay to have your not-as-good-yogurt brought to you in those little cartons. It’s way better for you as well since you get to control how much, if any sweeteners go into your yogurt. Good for your munchkins cause you can make it from whole milk which is more nutritious.

Have I convinced you yet?? You need to make some yogurt! You can read how I did it the first time HERE.

Anyway, it’s a new day, and a new week, and I’m slugging away at the diet again, only this time I’m allowing myself to have some dairy again. I just can’t do both. Carbs or dairy… I think I’ll stick with dairy for now.

MMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Anyway, it was this very muffin-top issue that I noticed in that “pictures never lie” photo! Yuck! It was motivation enough for me to give up carbs though, and now I’m happy that I have. Who knew that carbs always settle there?

I still have a ways to go, and I there’s quite a bit of toning that I need to do… which I’m rather lazy about at the moment, though I have been doing the kettle bell and I’m sure that will help. BUT I should be doing Tabata or other cardio as well. I’ll get there… eventually. For now I’m enjoying less muffin top and more loose clothing! Ha!

Now, I’m afraid to tell you for fear that you won’t ever want to sit next to me or be my friend again, I cannot shower every day. Even if I wasn’t a mommy with 3 young shower-stealers (believe me that’s what they are… the shower is the first to go when it comes to choosing that or more sleep, ha!) I still couldn’t, for my skin and hair’s sake, shower every day. I dry out terribly!!

Part of it has to do with the VERY minerally/hard water we have where we live, but part of it is just a changing life thing. Kids do weird things to ya! And getting older does too, but I chose not not think of that as a real reason. Ha ha!

Anyway, all of that to say that my skin is in bad shape if I shower more than every couple of days. And my hair too! I actually can’t stand my “freshly washed” hair because it refuses to look nice! It looks SO much better the next day, or the next even.

So I’m learning to counter these moisture sucking terrors to my skin, but I have to admit that my hands bear the brunt of it. They are naturally more often in water as I do dishes, switch laundry, bathe kids, wash hands, they just don’t get a break. And then they do break. I get paaaaaiiiiinnnnful cracks in my fingers and especially my thumbs, and even the back of my knuckles when they get too dry. Oh and just as an aside, superglue works WONDERS for skin cracks on your fingers. Really!!

But I’ve invented (well probably not very original) a thing I like to refer to as momicures. I’m pretty sure the last manicure I had was the one I got before my wedding…. yep, 6.5 years ago! Wow! My poor hands have been so neglected. Anyway, what I do is when I have chores to do around the house, which often happens, I slather up my hands with some THICK lotion, (my Hurb got me some great body butter stuff from BB&B and some thick Dr. Scholles foot lotion, and my sis-in-law gave me Avon’s Silicon Glove for Christmas and those all work fantastic!) or Vaseline will work in a pinch too, and put on my lovely rubber gloves. I have a pair that I use for icky chores, (like bathroom cleaning and such) that I drew a “yucky face” on so that I don’t get them mixed up with my dishes handling pair. I’m weird that way. But I wear the gloves while I do my chores, and when I’m all done my hands feel SO soft and moisturized!! It’s great!

I try to be conscientious about doing it all the time, because I’m the only one who suffers if I don’t, and believe me that ONE time of loading the dishwasher without gloves (and I don’t even pre-rinse all the dishes) can totally thrash my hands. So I keep lotion under the sink right next to the gloves so I have no “lazy” excuses and so far it’s making a big difference during this dry winter weather! So even if I’m just sweeping or dusting, I try to put on my gloves with lotion. That way I don’t feel all “dirty” like I have to wash my hands when I’m done, and I get some extra moisture at the same time.

Gotta protect that skin! It’s hard to crochet with rough hands!

Still, new leaves are good to turn over. That’s why I create resolutions throughout the year. One thing I would like to accomplish this year is to get some photo books printed of our life since marriage. Because everything photo related has gone digital, we have hardly any “hard copy” photos. I’d like to be able to pull out a book, sit down with the kids and tell them stories of where we first lived, and people when knew when, and so on. So that will be an ongoing project for me because that’s 7 years worth of photos to sort through. Wow… that’ll be a job. But I’m going to break it up so it won’t be ALL in one book, ha! Smaller projects are better.

I’m resolving to read more this year too. I read something generally every day, but most often I reach for one of the tried and true Austin books or Anne books, and I’ve read them all MULTIPLE times. I finally figured out the reason for this. I know what is going to happen! See, if I pick up a new book, I have a very hard time putting it down till it’s done. And while I’m a fast reader, I still don’t have that much time in a given day to devote to devouring a new story. So I end up reaching for the ones I already know, to pass the time while I scarf down my lunch, and I know I can put it down because I already know what’s going to happen. Funny, huh? But this year I want to read more, and not just novels, I want to read some of the books I have on parenting, and kid years and so on. I have a kindle now, so there’s no excuse! I’ll simply HAVE to live in suspense on some books, and that can be fun too.

Along with the reading theme I want to be more focused in my scripture reading. I’ve kind of been all over the place with that one. I always gravitate to the Psalms, and then hop around to some different NT books. This year, I’ve picked up the “One Year Bible” again. It’s nice because it breaks it all up for me, AND I get a daily installment of Psalms and Proverbs too. But I didn’t start at the beginning on “January 1″ I put my bookmark in June 1 instead, and am going to go on from there. I’m reading through parts of Samuel and the stories of David, and it’s very interesting. What a life he lived and not all happy, harp-playing, sheep tending was it. My heart hurts for David a lot more this time around as I read about him mourning for his rebel son Absalom. There are so many amazingly dramatic stories in the OT that I know I have often just kind of read over without much thought as tot he real people behind them. Anyway, so that’s how I’m going to spend my moments with my first cuppa this year.

Getting up before the kids is always a goal, but I begin to despair of that one. Qade is an EARLY riser. Like up before the sun kind of early riser. He usually is good about playing for a few minutes alone, before he wakes up Myles. They they typically play pretty well together for a little while. So that gives me some time even if I don’t make it downstairs before their eyeballs open. Still… I’m brainstorming ways to get them to sleep longer. If you have any suggestions, fire them away. Staying up later doesn’t work by the way, we’ve seen that one. They love to stay up, but get up just as early and are VERY cranky the next day.

I also have kind of vague goals, like doing more projects with the kids, and activities with them that require more thinking and problem solving. Those I’m planning to implement into our “school time” once we start that back up on Monday. We’ll see how it all works out. You know I’m not a “project” mom so it’ll be a test for me. Still, I have some ideas that I think I can carry off, and my MIL gave me a book for Christmas that is just packed with ideas of things to do with preschoolers! So that’s on my reading list, and then to-do list.

There you have it in a rough round-a-bout way. My 2012 resolutions. More or less.

It’s actually pretty sad and pathetic how few photos I have of me from this year. It’s very few. Not that I want a whole library full of pictures of me, but I do want pictures of me with the kids, and me with Stu, and me just doing things I do.

With the stuff that’s been going on with Heather, and other stories like hers, I realize that those snap shots are important. The “big” photo opportunities are important too, and I’m working on getting together with another photographer for some great family photos hopefully in the next month or 2. But besides those, I want there to be photos of me playing with the kids, or doing projects with them. Me in the picnic shots and whatever else we do together.

I know that since I’m the “photographer” it naturally falls to me to take pictures and document things. BUT I confess that I’ve often used that as a “good reason” not to be in front of the camera because…. well, pictures don’t lie, like I mentioned before. I’m not perfectly pleased with myself so I don’t want to see those photos. I’ve realized though that it’s just selfish to think that way. What if something did happen to me, and my kids were left with no tangible memories because I was too self-conscious to have pictures taken of me?

So this year I resolve to make sure I’m IN more photos. I’m also resolving to take along my point and shoot camera, which sometimes it drives me crazy to use, and capture more candid snapshot memories. Because I realize I’ve missed a lot of those this year due to the fact that I didn’t want to “lug” my big camera wherever. No more excuses this time!

I’m going to be in photos. Even if I look like this:

Ha ha ha ha ha!!

This is the resolution that has kicked me off of facebook for the month of January. It takes a month to make a habit, and I’m trying, with this resolution, to make a habit of being more in the moment with my kids, hubby, and house, instead of frittering away the time online “pretending” to be important to all those people out there.

Now before you get your girdle in a twist, I know that some of you are my friends on facebook and would argue that I am important. Thanks!! I know who you are, don’t worry. I just need this time as a refocus for moi.

I took steps in Dec to whittle down my friends list by over half, and you know what? that helped a lot! My news feed wasn’t that long, and I didn’t feel like I had as much to “do” when I visited facebook-land. I also “hid” all of the pages that I like so that they don’t show up as well.

Too often over the last year I have used facebook as an escape. I’ve used it as a way to connect with people, yes, but more often, I used it to “get away” from things that I really needed to be doing here and now. I will always say that FB has it’s place, because the truth is I don’t get out much. I don’t have friends close by, and I do need some “connections” outside of my hubby and kids. Still, I was plugged in enough to realize that it had gotten out of control for me.

Now you have the mental picture of me hunched over a laptop in a dark corner for 13 hours a day. Ha ha! No, it wasn’t like that… not quite… I sat by a sunny window. Just kidding! Still, I know that for me, I was spending way too much time plugged into cyberspace and not enough time dealing with my kids and the other responsibilities surrounding me. In fact, I started to resent some of those responsibilities because I felt like I never had enough time for them. The reason for that? I was pinning or following threads in a facebook group all afternoon and it left me rushed and stressed out. Not good.

So that’s what the lack of FB is all about this month. I plan, of course, to let it back in a little bit after I’ve made the deconnection. I want to live my real life. You can’t really make memories in cyberspace, it just doesn’t work. Meanwhile, my kids are a hoot, and I love living real life with them, and my Man!

P.S. I am updating my biz fan page on FB so you might see some activity there, but I am completely avoiding my personal page and my groups. See ya in Feb!

Last year I had a weight loss resolution as well, and no wonder since I was only 3 months post baby. So hard to believe! Ella’s getting so big! And even though I didn’t complete that resolution, I did manage to loose the baby weight. And I learned a few things in the process about how my body “likes” to lose the extra flab. I can’t just do it all at once. It goes in spurts. I lose some, then plateau and maintain for awhile before I can lose again.

This is a revelation to me because, fortunately, I have not had to struggle with weight issues my whole life. It’s a relatively new concept to me, so the learning curve is a little tight. (snicker) I do have a lot of respect for people who DO struggle with weight as a continual thing. I think that pressure is difficult and it’s hard to see progress. Which is why looking at where I’ve come from can be helpful.

Because I saw some pictures that I happened to be in (which is a rare occurrence any more) over Christmas break, and the only thing I could think was, “YUCK!” And I realized that mirrors really can lie. Because mirrors sometimes show you the you you want to see. (How many times can YOU use “you” in a sentence?) We all have a mental perception of ourselves and sometimes you can really truly not see the real you. That’s why the anorexic person will be emaciated and look in the mirror and see a fat person. It’s mental.

Anyway, mirrors may lie, but pictures do not. And when I saw “those” pictures I realized that the muffin top has GOT to go, and the rest of the poundage that I just do not need! So I have resolved to get a good jump on it in January. Now that I realize I most likely can not lose it all at once and be done with it forever, I’m taking it a bit at a time. Divide and conquer!!!

I will do my low-carb thing for January (by the way I have lost 2 lbs in the last 2 days by just cutting out carbs… no exercise yet, even!!) and then in Feb I will maintain whatever I have ended up losing. In March…. we’ll see what happens in Jan first.

I’ve made some modifications to the “slow-carb” diet that I lost weight on last year. I am including fruit, which was forbidden on that one, but cutting out dairy. Apparently dairy can be a big weight-loss killer. Who knew? And that’s going to be difficult for me because I’m totally in a dairy loving rut! Still I’ll save all that yummy yogurt and sour cream for February. I’m even doing something I consider radical and that is to have almond milk in my coffee…. I have never tasted the stuff before, so this will be an adventure!

Anyway, wish me luck, I will be starting my kettle bell/ball crunch exercise routine up again tomorrow. Can’t wait to be the new me in a month! Ha ha!

More resolutions coming your way…. stay tuned!

But I do find the Google Analytics site interesting. You can see how many times your blog is viewed and even the countries and CITIES that people are viewing your blog from! Wow! Big Brother is watching!!!

So out of curiosity I was looking at the numbers for my blogs, I have 2 remember???? Oh, you don’t? Well, stay tuned for my little commercial (or whine) later.

For THIS blog that you are laying your eyes on right now. My biggest “Country” fans are, the USA, of course, and Canada!! With a third being Ukraine. I don’t know of anyone in Ukraine, but welcome, happy to have you along.

For the cities Albuquerque is the biggest with a second being Woodstock??? Where is that exactly? I’m very bamboozled by that one for sure. Anyway, there’s a good showing from Los Angeles and Prescott as well. Thanks for tagging along! What fun!

Anyway, now the commercial/whine. On my business blog at cdostudios.com I have had 2 visits….. from Brazil! This may be part of why I keep getting spam comments on that particular blog. Ha ha! Actually though, I did get 2 honest and genuine comments from a friend of mine recently, so I can’t be too down about it.

I just want to encourage you to “pop” over there to see what’s going on in my little photo-mind. There’s generally pictures involved on that blog, sadly lacking here. I just get tied up in the words over here and forget about pictures. *sigh* SO maybe if you combine the 2 in your reading you can get the words here and pictures there!!!

Can you sense the “begging” aspect yet? No? Okay how’s this….. PPPPPPPLLLLLEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEEEE come visit me on my other blog tooooooooooo!!!!! Please?

If only to help a gal out with her ego issues. Thanks! You’re the best! Ha ha!

I’m glad I came across this one because really the only thing I have left on my “list” is stocking stuffers. I haven’t yet established any real traditions with our stockings yet, so now is the year to start! I don’t like just packing them full of sweets so now I have a couple more ideas for them. I especially like the “unders” and the bandaid ideas!

This is a list of the TOP 5 toys for kids EVER! Seriously. I think I’m going to find some good gift ideas in this list!

And here’s another from The Modern Mrs. Darcy about practical gifts. I appreciate her approach to things. And after “pruning” the kids toys today and the inevitable “trauma” of it all, I’m thinking practical is oh-so-much better than just “stuff.” Ha ha ha!

So anyway, some of these ideas are helping me with my deGrinchification process. I’m already looking forward to next Christmas with a slew of home-made gift ideas, and a better appreciation for a Simple Season.

I had expressed an interested to my mom earlier this year that I would like a sewing machine. Now this is noteworthy for a couple of reasons. 1) I don’t “like” to sew 2) The last time I attempted a project on my mom’s demon possessed machine I came within a hair of throwing that thing through the window…. really. So it doesn’t really seem like a good match for me.

I took a couple of years of 4H when I was in 5th and 6th grade. Or so… And the first year I made a skirt that I loved, a book bag that was amazing for carrying my piano books, and uh… well, that’s all I remember. The second year, we were moving on to patterns and I picked out a fun jumper pattern to make out of a BRIGHT yellow fabric. I guess, looking back now, I should be glad that I never made it through that project. LOL! Oh my, what a sight I would have been!! Anyway, the 4H teacher from the year before had quit, and now one lady was handling the “work-load” of at least 2. There were too many girls sewing and not enough machines, and while I got my pattern all cut out, pressed and pinned, the sewing of it didn’t work out. I actually did get to use the machine a couple of times, but the settings were wrong on it, and I knew no different, so I spent a lot of time ripping seams before I lost heart with it all and Mom let me quit.

Since then I have tried different sewing projects with various levels of success. I never yet have liked an article of clothing that I “made” myself. And like I said above, most end with my complete frustration and firm vow to NEVER sew again.

So what changed you might ask. Well, I’ll sum it up in one little word pinterest.

It’s true I’m a pinterest junkie. There are SO many amazing projects on there. Many of which are “no sew” which gets my immediate attention. But I’ve also found some that are minimal sew projects. Meaning that yes, you need a sewing machine, but no, you don’t need to be a wiz at sewing. Those ones have me intrigued. And since I’m obsessed with making my own photography props for infants, I thought that a sewing machine would be a great addition to my tools.

Mom took the hint and called up my Grandma, who by the way is a fantastic sewer, and as it all turns out Grandma gave Mom her machine to give me!! It’s all “tuned up” and ready to go! I’m so excited about this sewing machine, and it’s even boggling my mind that I’m so excited about it, because I know that sewing and I have not been the best of chums. BUT I’m determined to give it a go, and I’m so happy that I can be attempting my this-n-that projects on Oma’s machine.

Thanks Mom!! Thanks Grandma!! You guys are the best!

P.S. Mom also gave me a really fun sewing basket! You might never see me again if I get buried in fabric, yarn and pinterest projects!