The flu=EVIL!

I took Miss E to the dr yesterday because she woke up with a bad cough again. We had been around so many people the last week so it wasn't really a surprise that she would pick up something. I actually just called the dr office and asked the nurse to call in a refill on her cough meds, but she insisted on us coming in. Thank goodness we did. When we got there her fever was over 102 and so they did a flu test and it came back positive. I woke up yesterday not feeling so great, and by the time we made it back home from getting her Tamiflu, my temp was over 103. Not good. Luckily my MIL works in a dr office and called me in Tamiflu, so we both have been taking it since last night. Great. Except our insurance didn't cover the liquid form for Miss E, so I have to take caplets apart and hide the powder junk in different things (i.e. mixing it with a small bit of yogurt, hiding it in between a piece of cheese folded in half) and so far it has all been a fail. It tastes horribly and I feel terrible, but it's not like I can mix it in a whole cup of juice because I have to make sure she gets ALL of it. I've been having to keep Motrin in her constantly because that is the only way her fever will stay down and even then it lingers around 101. And somehow the child still has energy and wants to play. For very short periods of time because she gets exhausted easily, but I have NO energy to keep up. All I want to do is sleep. All. The. Time. And that is just not possible with a toddler. "Mommy, I'm done, come wipe me", "Mommy I need more water", "Mommy, can I have a snack", "Mommy, can I play on the tablet"? It's never ending. At night is when it is bad for her, all she wants to do is lay with a cool wash cloth on her face and I'm like "finally"! Rest time for mommy too! My body aches to the core and I have chills that will not go away. But the OCD side of me still needs certain things done, so I'm the freak with the 103 temp doing dishes because I just can't sleep knowing they are in the sink(Brandon is out of town working). It's a horrible sickness and I fully acknowledge that.

Anyway, Christmas was great. We went to Alabama Christmas Eve day, then we did our family stuff on Christmas morning, then went to my in-laws to open gifts, then to Memaw's for more gifts and lunch. I must say that I am extremely lucky to have married into such an amazing family. Miss E got more gifts from Grammie than she did from us (same as the last 2 years). Brandon and I also got some great gifts, I got a new big crock pot(which I have been wanting), some kitchen things, some dvd's, clothes. I love that my MIL and SIL know me so well:) My big gift and the one I was most excited about was from Brandon and Miss E though. I FINALLY got my nice camera! I was so surprised and have been pretty much obsessed ever since. Anyone who knows me knows that this is something I've wanted for 4 years now. Don't worry though, I not one of THOSE people, you know, the ones who get a nice camera and in a month they are a professional photographer charging people for pics;) Although I have always been obsessed with taking pictures, I am in no way wanting to go that route. I just want to be able to take nice pics of my own kid whenever I want to, not on someone else's schedule. I do have 2 photographers that I absolutely love and will continue to use them as well. So yes, Christmas was freaking fantastic this year. I'm just glad we got the flu after it was over! 

Hopefully we will both be over this flu crap quick. I have a birthday to plan and invites to get out. I still can't believe that Miss E is going to be 3 in two weeks!

I got the Liebster Award:)

Woo hoo! I got this the other day:

Thank you Erin over at http://mother227.blogspot.com/. She has been an inspiration to me as I'm starting on my weight loss journey. 

So now I guess it is my turn to nominate 11 people, give some random facts about myself, and answer some questions.

So here are the rules:

1. You must thank the person who nominated you for the award.
2. You must write eleven facts/things/tidbits about yourself.
3. You must answer eleven questions that were given to you from your nominator.
4. You must nominate eleven other bloggers who have 200 or less followers and tag them in your acceptance post.
5. You must create eleven new questions for your nominees to answer in their acceptance post.
6. You must notify your eleven nominees on their blog, so they can accept their award and pay it forward.
7. You must not nominate the person who nominated you.
8. After all of this is done, you may add the Liebster Award Button to your blog.

Here are my 11 things about myself:

1. I LOVE being a mother. I truly believe that this is what I am supposed to do with my life. Raise my little girl and maybe another one one day. My daughter is the absolute greatest gift. I don't think you can know what true love is until you have a kid. It's freaking amazing. 

2. I have 5 siblings, 2 younger, 3 older, and I don't talk to any of them. It sucks but that's the way it is. 

3. I was lucky enough to marry my absolute best friend. I swear Brandon knows me better than I know myself sometimes. He is the only person in the world that knows *every* single thing about me and the only person that I can be myself 100% around.

4. I think RIC (routine infant circumcision) is wrong and disturbing.

5. I despise coffee, but I LOVE the smell of it. Sweet tea is my coffee.

6. I am currently working on shedding some major pounds. It's not easy, but it will be so worth it when I finally get there.

7. I love tattoos. I have 6 of them and I want more. 

8. I also love guns. I have 2 myself, and in my house we have quite a few. My almost 3 year old loves them too, but she knows the difference between her play ones and mommy and daddy's real ones. It's all about teaching gun safety at an early age. There is nothing better than going to the range to let out some stress. Also, I will NEVER be left defenseless. 

9. I want to go to Ireland before I die. I want to see where my family comes from. 

10. I love college football. I think the pros are pansies. College is where it is at. During football season I plan my Saturdays around games. I have and will always be a UGA fan. I think I will always miss Matthew Stafford. 

11. I'm trying to think of something spectacular here, but honestly I have nothing. The only thing I can think of is that I'm a planner. I plan everything. I like things to be done well before time so there is no stress. I booked Miss E's birthday party like 4 months in advance. I buy presents extremely early. I'm just not a last minute person. 

Ok now that those are done, here are the 11 questions from Erin that I have to answer:

1. What is my favorite holiday? That's easy, Christmas! I love the season, the lights, the celebrations, the family time, the food, the look on my daughters face on Christmas morning. I just love everything about it!

2. What is my favorite food: Longhorns crab stuffed filet. It is freaking amazing. They don't carry it anymore and I refuse to go back til they put it back on the menu.

3. What is my favorite memory that includes alcohol? This one is tough. I have quite a few...I think Music Midtown 2004. I went with my roommate and Brandon and it was just a freaking amazing weekend. I just can't even explain it. 

4. What is your favorite memory without alcohol? Dang, I have a few of these too...do I have to pick just one? I'll go with the day we arrived in Daytona last year. It was our first family vacation with Miss E and her first time seeing the ocean. I will never forget the look on her face. We were standing in the hotel parking lot, the sun was going down and Brandon was holding her. I can still smell the ocean. That was an amazing memory, I won't ever forget it.

5. How long have I been with my significant other. We have been together 11 years, married 4. I was 16 when we started dating and he was 17.

6. Where did you meet them: Well we went to high school together, but our families just happened to be in the same place at the same time for vacation one year. He saw me at the pool and the rest is history.

7. What would be the first thing I bought if I hit the lotto tonight? I would pay off the house, my car, Brandon's truck, and anything else we owed. I would donate to foster kids, women's shelter's and animal shelters. I would pay off Brandon's parents house and vehicles(after everything they've done for us, it's the least we could do) Then we would probably buy land and build. I would also love to foster dogs. 

8. What is my dream car? I don't really have one. Cars aren't really my thing, I just need something practical with good gas mileage. I mean, I wouldn't turn down a Bentley or BMW though:)

9. What would be my dream place to live? I wouldn't mind staying in Ga I guess, but I want somewhere with land. I don't want to be too far away from civilization, but I love the quiet and the privacy. 

10. If I could get plastic surgery today, what would I get? A boob job. I'm waiting until we get done having kids, and then I am getting one.

11. Where is my favorite place on earth? Honestly, probably my home. It's my safe zone, the place where I have great memories, plus I love who I share it with. I guess I was supposed to say the beach or something, but oh well.

Ok so here is who I nominate:

1. Anna at http://justnormalthinking.blogspot.com/

2. Elizabeth at http://mylifeaslizwifeandsahm.blogspot.com/

3. Christine at http://inspire-to-create.blogspot.com/

4. Amanda at http://justtakeonebiteplease.blogspot.com/
5. Kristen at http://kristenplusjswifts.blogspot.com/
6. Mommy2Izzy at http://mommy2izzy.blogspot.com/
7.MommaSachs at http://mommasachs.blogspot.com
8. Mommy RiRI at http://thatgoesdouble.blogspot.com/
9. Amy at http://threeoclockcrazy.blogspot.com/
10. Christina at: http://twoboysandarucksack.blogspot.com/
11.Michelle at http://ourlifeontheoutside.blogspot.com/

And here are my eleven questions:

1. Who is your favorite author?
2. What is your ideal job?
3. What is the best concert you've ever attended?
4. What is your favorite movie?
5. What is your favorite thing to cook?
6. What is your earliest memory in life?
7. What is one thing on your bucket list?
8. What is your favorite tv show?
9. Do you collect anything?
10. Why did you start blogging?
11. What is your guilty pleasure? TV show, book, movie, anything like that.

Ok, that took forever, but I'm done!

First week weigh in.

Today was my first weekly weigh in. I'm happy to report that I am down 4 lbs even. Nothing spectacular, but to see the numbers go down is a great motivator:)

It's much easier to eat healthy when its just me and Miss E. Throw my husband in the mix and that is where it gets tricky. But I've been doing great not eating the things I'm not supposed to even though I'm having to fix them for Brandon. Last night I did indulge in a piece of cake for my FIL's birthday, but I came home and did double time on the elliptical too. 

So there it is, my first week back on the wagon and I feel good about it. I knew it wasn't going to come off easily, but I'm working everyday at it:)

Me vs the Elliptical

I won!

I started back on it today for the first time in too long. I have bad knees and they started giving me problems (no cartilage) and swelling really badly. I started taking glucosamine to try to build the cartilage back up and took a break from the elliptical. I was nervous to get back on it tonight and had really low expectations. I gave myself a goal of 15 mins (low, but better than nothing, and I don't want to hurt my knees) and wound up doing 30! It feels great to be back on it and the best part is I have NO pain in my knees! I know I'm going to have to build myself back up to what I was doing, but I'm so proud of myself for taking the first step and getting back on it. I love the energized and accomplished feeling of when I'm done. And yes, I had those jeans draped over my elliptical the whole time as a reminder of why I'm doing it:)

Change of subject now, I got Miss E's Christmas pictures back yesterday and they turned out amazing! The same girl that did our family pics back in August did them and I must say that I just love her. If you're looking for a great photographer, I HIGHLY recommend her, here is her FB page:https://www.facebook.com/mmcphotographyy?fref=ts.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Ok, so that was more than a few, but I think my kid is adorable:) The third one just shows her personality perfectly, always dancing and twirling. We took her to her dance studio's holiday show on Sunday and the look on her face as she watched the dancers was just priceless. It was a great experience for her. 

It has taken me about an hour to write this post (had to stop for a tea party then to put Miss E to bed). So I think I'm done for the night, goodnight!

Motivation

Today I finally found my motivation for weight loss.

I lost 28lbs last year, got lazy and have since gained 10 of those back. Boo. That is what happens when you're just not motivated. Should I be motivated? Sure. But I haven't been. I'm healthy as can be(I had to have tests done at the GI specialist and my blood pressure and cholesterol and all that jazz is perfect). People don't treat me differently because of my weight (I'e been on both ends of the weight spectrum, from too thin to well, overweight). I have a freaking amazing husband who has never said anything negative about my appearance, which has changed drastically over the past 11 years. I was a blonde size 0 when we started dating and now, well, I'm not either of those things. I have some self esteem issues, but they aren't that bad, I don't think I'm horrendous or anything. So basically, I just haven't cared too much about it.

That changed today.

I was looking through the back of my closet for something and there they were. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. THE pair of jeans that looked freaking amazing on me 7 years ago. The ones that even if I felt horrible and wore no makeup, I could put them on and they made me feel like I looked like a million bucks. Those jeans. I don't remember the last time I wore them or even saw them to be honest. I pulled them out and that's when it hit me. I want to wear those jeans again. I started digging further and pulled out a few more pairs(they started going up in sizes) and I realized that if I went up these sizes, I can go back down. It's sure as heck not going to be as much fun as eating whatever I want and such, but it will be worth it to finally be able to put on those jeans. They are the smallest pair in my closet (all of my tiny anorexic clothes are long gone, I'm not dumb enough to think I will be a 0 again, nor do I want to be). So I'm going to start working my way back down my old jean pile until eventually I get to that one pair. They are currently hanging over my elliptical so they are constantly in my sight.

Any inspirational stories are welcomed and greatly appreciate as I start this journey. Most people send me FB messages after reading my posts because they don't like putting their personal stuff out there. One request, don't bother with the "I took this and lost 20lbs in a week" crap. I've never tried weight loss pills or fast fixes before and that is not what I'm interested in. Last year I did it on mostly diet alone, throwing in walks around my hilly neighborhood and using my elliptical. I just like reading real success stories from people doing it the old fashioned way and having that inspiration. You can also follow me on myfitnesspal.com. I've been on there for almost 2 years and set it to where I'm starting with today's weight so I can work my way back up.

This time, I'm going the distance. I'm GOING to wear those jeans again.