Lose weight to Gain

Ok people... time to get serious.  I want to have another baby soon.  I want to get pregnant in 2012.  I might as well start trying now, except I NEED to lose weight first.  I can't get pregnant at this weight.  My goal is to lose 30 lbs before I get pregnant... can I do it?  I need this blog to keep me accountable.  If I commit it to paper (web) then I will follow through.

How will I achieve this goal?

Starting today 2/24/12 I will work out for 14 days straight
~I will continue to work out after that, this is just a kick start

I will make better eating choices:

• NO sweets (I already ate my entire box of Girl Scout cookies, so I'm good)
• No french fries (If the baby wants some, he'll have to order them himself)
• NO eating late

I will make visual inspiration:

and I will blog weekly results.  **WARNING** These blog posts will be boring

ok, here we go!

Day 1:

Workout: 2 hour hike carrying 19 lbs (Jaden)

Cute baby pic:



LOVE: Let's eat our feelings

Here 2 simple ideas for Valentine's treats.  I am going to attempt cake pops next week, so THAT will be the tough one for today though...

(inspired from Pinterest)

EASY: Strawberry Cakesters

(makes 24 cookies - 12 cookie sandwiches)

1 package of strawberry cake mix
2 eggs
3/4 cup of shortening

Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 stick of butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Mix together strawberry cake mix, eggs and shortening until well combined. The dough will be pretty thick.
• Roll dough into balls, making sure they are all similar in size.
• Place dough onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes.  Set aside to cool

• Mix together cream cheese, butter, vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth.
• Spread onto cooled cookies and sandwich together.

 

 

EASIER: Oreo Cakester Hearts

• Buy a box of Oreo Cakesters
• Use a heart cookie cutter to make them in the shape of a heart
• Put festive sprinkles around the edge!

And here is a picture of my sweet baby boy (13 months old) who this week, has started signing after 6 months of trying!!  He has attempted "more", "all done", and "water"  Love my sweet, sweet boy!

Happy Valentine's Day

 

Canvas

I LOVE Canvas pictures.  They are so expensive, but they look soooo good.  When I say DIY Canvas all over Pinterest, I knew I had to try it. 

Pretty easy.  All you need is:

• pre-stretched canvas
• a picture (same size as the canvas)
• cute paper pre-cut to fit the sides of your canvas (a little but smaller)
• Matte Mod Podge
• Acrylic paint
• a sponge
• wax paper

Mod Podge the paper onto the edges
Cut your photo 1/8 inch on each side so it is a little bit smaller than the canvas
Mod podge the photo onto the canvas, let dry.
Cover the photo with mod podge.  It will look milky, but it will dry clear.
Use the sponge to dab the acrylic paint around all of the edges.
Let dry

That's it... so easy and amazing results

oh, and for dinner, how about Tomato Basil Soup with mini grilled cheese croutons

It's time to DANCE

I cannot believe it's been a year!  What an awesome year it was.  I knew I was going to go BIG for my little guys BIG day, but it was quite time consuming!  Here are the fun pics of Jaden's Dancy Dance party...  Enjoy.

 My sister Trisha made the cake

 There's a party in my tummy

 The birthday Brobee

 gift boxes

P.S. Having a December baby is CRAZY!  Christmas and birthday party planning was nuts and the house is BLOWN up...  But we had a blast!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It is so cool to have a child during the holidays... it just brings back all of the magic you experienced as a kid!  This month has been soooo fun and it's only the 3rd!

New holiday tradition: The Polar Express in Williams, AZ.  So worth the money, and I totally got teary eyed when the train pulled into the station... just knowing that I was about to see Santa.  Here's a picture of Jaden meeting Santa for the first time!

That was last weekend...
This past week we got crafty and made our own ornaments...
So easy...

Salt Dough Ornaments

(makes 12 small hand prints)

4 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 1/2 cup water

• Combine ingredients and knead dough for 15 to 20 minutes
• Roll dough out and cut around hand or cut circles out for making hand imprints
• Use a toothpick to etch in names/dates, and use a straw to make a hole for ribbon to hang on the tree.
• 
• Bake in the oven at 300 for 30 minutes
• Allow to cool
• Pant with a varnish to make the ornament last longer
• allow to dry
• decorate with any type of paint or glitter
• 

waking up happy

Today is the first day in MOTHS that Jaden woke up this morning Happy!  I am soooo... HAPPY!  He is the best, sweetest baby, but he is always crabby when he wakes up.  Today is a good day!
Jaden is 11 months old
Favorite food: lo mien
Favorite TV show: Blues Clues

 Here are a few crafts I've created lately...

Memory Shadow Box:

so easy and a great way to display all of your wedding items as opposed to them sitting in a box somewhere!

And here is my new baby food making secret...

Bamboo Steamer... it's a life changer!!

there are 2 levels, so I have the sweet potatoes steaming on the bottom (they take longer) and the apples steaming on top!

A new Day

Today has been a new day for Baby Jaden.  For the first time, he played by himself!  Wow... I can actually get something done?
AWESOME!  So I made him some healthy baby pancakes.  To my surprise I loved them as well and had a fantastic breakfast!

Wheat Banana Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flower

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup of 2% milk

1/2 a banana

• Combine all ingredients in a blender
• Puree until you have the proper smoothness
• Spray skillet with Olive Oil and cook half dollar sized pancakes over at 325 (medium heat in a frying pan) until golden brown.
• 
   After breakfast Baby Jaden even watched a TV program on Baby First TV and actually sat and watched it for the first time.  AND possibly the most impressive, here's a picture of him brushing his teeth!  Such a little genius baby (10 months old)
• 
  and he has his home-made Kazoo.... This is a proud Mommy Day! 11-11-11