Aug 27, 2014

Weigh In Wednesday

August is a tough month for me exercise and food wise. It's usually hotter than hell outside (although this year was kind of an exception but the broken foot got in the way of my walking/running/any physical activity) Then we've also got our anniversary, it's the end of a busy season at work, then its my birthday and that usually puts me in a tailspin of bad eating. This year was no exception. And I have the numbers to prove it.
 
Starting weight: 175
Last week: 162.0
This Week: 164.0
Change: +2
Total Change: -11

Told ya. My biggest hurdle? The dairy restriction being lifted. I ate like a king. I say king because I seriously ate like a man and like it had been a year since I had dairy rather than just 5ish weeks. Taco Bell, cake, ice cream, pizza, donuts, ranch, McD's breakfast, more pizza. It was bad. I earned that 2 lb gain for sure.

I'm feeling it too. I felt it as I ran at the park on Monday. Let's talk about that for a second. I haven't ran since early June and I literally picked the hottest day that we've had all summer to resume my running career. This was done between 4:30 and 5pm. So, I ran for the first time in 2.5 months in the sun on the hottest day of the year at the hottest time of the day. Smooth move, Erin. Carry on... I felt it when I tried to put jeans on Monday and went straight back into my closet for a dress.

I've been here before. I fall of the wagon and lose control. This time I am stopping before I get too far and undo too much progress. I'm going to start running again since the weather should be cooling off and I'm going to add in either 30 Day Shred or a couple of Pinterest workouts I've found along with a 30 day guns, buns and abs challenge. I may do the challenge even if I choose the Shred route. I've found a Soap Opera workout and a Grey's Anatomy workout and since those are the only two shows I am watching currently they are perfect. And I can hopefully do those while keeping Tucker out of Diesel's food and water bowls.



Whatever I decide to do, I need to do it now. Vacation is a month and a half away and I don't want to feel like a beached whale. I also would like to take some of my old shorts with me. That's my goal I guess.

Hopefully August has been kinder to you all. Who is up for a Guns, Buns and Abs Challenge?

Aug 26, 2014

25

Last Thursday was my birthday. I turned 25 years old. A quarter of a century old. My mom is kind of struggling with it. 10 was a big one too I guess.

It was a great birthday compared to how it could have gone. We've had a small crisis with the family biz and the whole no dairy thing made me stabby because that meant no birthday cake. Well, The crisis took a turn for the better and the no dairy restrictions were lifted. I'll talk more about that later this week. Then Thursday evening Danny's mom threw me a small birthday party. She told me she was going to make me dinner, but kept the fact that she invited my mom, brother and his girlfriend over too. It was nice and I felt pretty special. I also put a ton of parmesan cheese on my spaghetti just because I could.
birthday breakfast with my main men

Over the last week I've been thinking about how I want to spend my 25th year. Last year I wrote a letter to my 24 year old self about how 23 was a big year and to keep building on it. For the most part, I lived out those wishes. The going has gotten tough again and I haven't ran off to Mexico or been sent to the loony bin yet. So, that's a win in my book. Instead of writing myself a letter this year, I'm making a list of personal goals that I'm hoping 25 year me can work on.

1. Stop blaming myself - I tend to bare the weight of the world on my shoulders. Every one is counting on me. At least in my head. I tend to forget that I have a husband by my side, a mom that is always in my corner and a brother who also runs this business. The day my dad died, I felt it was my responsibility to take care of everyone and everything. Why? I have no idea. It's probably because I'm the oldest child. Who knows really.

2. Don't discount compliments - I've done this forever and its a really bad habit. I like receiving compliments, but I don't always take them well. Again, I have no idea why I do this. Someone could say, "You look like you've lost weight" and I will almost immediately follow with "Oh these jeans haven't been washed for about 2 weeks so they look big" Just take the damn compliment Erin.

3. Spend more time with my friends - Mostly my friends here in town. Rachael, my oldest friend, lives on the other side of town and I see her maybe 3 times a month. That's pathetic. I'm always complaining about how I never get to hang out with my friends because they live so far away. I'm mostly referring to Andrea and Shelby because they are in Ohio and Texas (well, Shelby will be back in Indiana within a couple weeks) I've got 2 of my best friends living in the same damn town as me. I need to start making more plans with them. Rachael and I have started having weekly lunches again (except last week because she was leaving on vacation and I had Tuck's dr appt) so that's been nice. Hopefully we can keep it up.

4. Be nice to myself - not just mentally with the compliment and blaming myself thing. But I need to treat my body better. Get more pedicures, eat right, go get that massage that my mother-in-law bought me 9 months ago, use that gift certificate to the spa that Danny got me a few weeks ago just because. I'm not getting any younger and I want to be as healthy as possible for Tucker and the future little Summers babies.

5. Water my own grass - I don't believe in the "grass is greener on the other side" thing. I do, however, believe the grass is greener where you water it. I've got great things in my life that people would love to have. Yes my house is small, but with some organization and (hopefully) a room addition, it'll be perfect. My job may suck sometimes, but there are people in their 40's that would kill for the flexibility and freedom that I have.

If I can improve in those areas, getting older won't be so bad!

Aug 25, 2014

My "Relaxed" Weekend

I had been looking forward to this past weekend for over a month. It was considered my birthday weekend, we had plans with friends and we were leaving Tucker overnight for the first time. All so that I could relax and take a break. Yeah, breaks don't happen in my world. But, the weekend still did not disappoint!

Friday we had plans to go eat Mexican with my family to celebrate my birthday. I'll do a birthday recap tomorrow. It was a pretty good one. Except when I picked Tucker up from my mother-in-laws house he was burning up. He had a fever Thursday night and almost all day Friday. I assumed it was due to his top teeth coming in (bottom teeth are a cake walk compared to the top)but we stayed home to be safe and ordered pizza and watched a movie with my mom, brother and his girlfriend.

Saturday was much better for Tucker. We went to swim lessons even though he was still in the 99 degrees range. He was chewing and slobbering all morning so I felt comfortable taking him. Plus the cool water could only help him feel better at that point. Again, Tucker did great at swimming. The instructor was so impressed with how calm he is in the water. He loves it! Just soaks it all in and lets me do all the work. My mom went with us because she stayed with us this weekend so she could keep Tucker Saturday. After swimming we went home so I could start getting ready for our night away. Danny said we were going so I could "relax" for  a night. Well, no one thought about the two hours worth of work it would take for me to get ready to relax. And on 5 hours of sleep. I had to pack our clothes, a cooler, pillows and blankets, get our chairs, shower, get ready, go get beer and some Captain, get gas, get ice, stop at the grocery, and then drive almost an hour to the campground. I cannot wait until next summer when we have a camper of our own and half the shit will already be packed for me. In the end, it was worth all the running around. I got up there and had a great time! I enjoyed some Captain and Diet Coke, chatted with our friends (something I don't get to do often) and I did get to relax. Very worth it. Tucker also did very well for our first full night apart which is very relieving.

Sunday was a pretty good day. Danny and I were home by 10:30. We had plans to make salsa but our tomatoes didn't do well enough to warrant starting the whole canning salsa process. I would have gotten like 3 jars and that's just not worth it to me. Plus, Tucker stuck to me like glue yesterday. Making salsa with a baby on my hip would have been difficult. So, we ordered Chili's take out, cleaned the Jeep out, started cleaning up the desk area and played. A perfect little Sunday.

As much as I like having stuff to do on the weekends, I am very much looking forward to this coming weekend. We just have swimming and Danny has class Saturday. That's it. We were invited to go camping again, but I need a weekend to recover from the month of August. Every weekend has been jam packed.
Seriously though. Mama needs a break!

That's all for now. Now I have to figure out what the hell I'm going to do at work today!

Aug 18, 2014

A Busy Weekend Recap

We have arrived at yet another Monday following a busy weekend. I am exhausted and I am out of coffee. Well, except for decaf and decaf coffee is a joke in my book. On a happier note, it is my birthday week!

I'm not sure I did anything important on Friday. Thursday and Friday were stressful work days so I'm going to go out on a limb and say I did nothing after work other than take care of Tuck and prep for our first day of swim lessons. Danny had class from 5-8 (on a Friday night, how shitty) so naturally he got home right when I was putting Tuck down in his crib, causing Diesel to go ape shit and act like he hadn't seen Danny in months. Luckily Tuck just fussed for a few and eventually went to sleep.

Saturday was pretty busy. We had our first swim class at the Y. Tucker LOVED it! Although he didn't do a lot of kicking his legs, he kind of just enjoyed having mama float him around the pool. I'm so happy he enjoyed it. And we were the only people there. So, we are most likely going to have to go with the older class for the rest of the session.
 


After our class, we went and got Danny's hair cut then headed home to lounge a little before getting ready for a friend of mine's wedding.  My mom came up to stay with Tucker and do a test run for this coming Saturday when we go camping.  Danny and I got ready then swung through Burger King (Danny had a whopper craving) on the way. I wasn't sure what the food options were going to be so I didn't want to go with an empty stomach since I was planning on drinking heavily. Luckily I was able to scrape the cheese off the chicken and they had green beans and rolls. I also snuck one bite of cake. No dairy is tough when you have events like this. Good thing Coors Light and Captain Morgan don't have dairy!  This girl managed to have 3 beers (which were like 16oz I think) and 2 Captain and Diets without making a fool of herself. I was worried since it was the first time I was drinking more than one glass of wine or one beer at a time. We got home around 11 and everything went smoothly for my mom and Tucker, which makes me so happy. 
How hot is that goatee/mustache thing he's go going on?
 
 


Sunday was too busy and started bright and early with a headache at 6am. My mom helped me get some stuff done around the house while watching Tucker. My bathroom got cleaned for the first time since like June, floors got swept, and laundry was done. After she left, we headed to Fishers to pick up my friend Shelby. She was in the wedding and we wanted to spend Sunday together. We headed back towards our house and got lunch at a BBQ place then headed to our house to watch a few episodes of Grey's Anatomy and play with Tucker. 5 pm rolled around and it was time for her to go. Originally I just had to take her to Noblesville (40 minutes away). Well, her next set of plans fell through, so I had to take her all the way to Brownsburg (an hour and 40 minutes away). Tucker screamed the whole way to Indy so we dropped him off at my moms, which was about 40 minutes from where I was taking Shelby. I'm sure Shelby will never have children now. After I dropped her off, I stopped back by my moms to get Tucker and feed him so we could head home. And thank you sweet baby Jesus, that kid slept the whole way home, which is great since we didn't get home until almost 10. I went almost straight to bed (had to have a glass of wine) and didn't shower or make bottles or anything. I was just done!

Now, it's Monday and like I said... I'm out of coffee. This is a form of torture I'm sure. I hope you all had a good weekend!

Aug 14, 2014

Life Lately

Tuesday was a big day in our house, but mostly for Danny. This calls for an update on what's been going on with my men and me.

First up is Danny. HE GOT HIS PINS OUT ON TUESDAY! After 5 long weeks since Surgery, the pins are out, the cast is off and the rehabilitation process starts. I almost cried. And so did Danny when they were taking them out. Except he was crying because it hurt. Lucky for him his bone structure was really great and the pins didn't move. Like at all. Which is pretty uncommon but certainly not a bad thing. The dr. said the patients normally pull them out themselves for fun although I don't see how that is fun, which might be why I sell insurance and don't work in the medical field but they had to use a tool to pull Danny's out. Oh, and one was bent so that one hurt and Danny almost let some choice words fly out. Anyways, he is in a boot and has been given the go ahead to ease into walking without crutches. And he can drive. No more dropping him off and picking him up at work. I'm so happy for him that this process is almost over. He's had a pretty hard time with it but has handled it much better than his friends and I ever anticipated.

Now for the little guy. Saturday will mark 3 weeks since I made the dairy free change to my diet and we added the medicine (lactulose) 2 weeks ago yesterday. We've seen some improvement in him going number 2. He still doesn't go everyday and still cries when he does sometimes, but things are getting better. I really think part of the crying might be the psychological part of it. Every time he's gone for the last 3 months it has hurt him so I would imagine that when he goes it scares him. Moving on from the poop talk.... This kid LOVES to eat. And don't you dare try to eat in front of him without giving him any. It pisses him off and he will let you know about it. So far, the only thing he doesn't care for is bananas. He's plowed through every other puree we've tried. As far as table foods go, he loves toast, apples (he just sort of sucks/chews and occasionally gets a piece off) noodles, green beans, peas, carrots (cooked), puffs, and this week we've tried grilled chicken and chicken sausage. He went absolutely ape shit over the chicken.
 


Tuck and I start swim classes this coming Saturday. It's a 7 week session and I'm so excited for him. I put him in the bath last night to see how he would react to the water (we normally bathe him on a towel on the counter) and he LOVED it. I let him play for a good 10 minutes and may have cried while watching him and he was so stinkin happy. He's also working on crawling. He's scooting and rolling around well enough that he can no longer be left unattended for more than 2 seconds. Things are getting interesting.

As for this girl. Well I'm still down right tired. Things are getting better though and I'm almost at the end of this challenging time since Danny's pins are out. I haven't handled this too well. It could be the timing of it all with the broken foot happening at the beginning of a really busy time at work. I think that's most of it. I just don't do well when I'm stressed out and can't take a break. Danny told me the other day that when this is all over that I need to take a day and go shopping with one of my girlfriends or something. But honestly, I kind of just want to go roam around Target and the mall by myself. I just need some time to myself. Some time to slow down, gather my thoughts and refresh. we all need that every now and then. Plus, retail therapy has always been known to make me happy.

So, that's what we've got going on. Pretty soon this broken foot crap will be nothing but a memory!