March 9th, 2010
For My Top Ten today I thought I would share some links that I think are fun or useful to me. I think someone else did this as a Top Ten at some point which is where I got the idea. I’m not going to include favorite blogs here as those could be on a list all their own!
1. Made From Wool- This is my brother’s web design site. He is the one who designed my blog and blog badge.(Didn’t he do a great job??) He’s very talented! Check out his website to see his portfolio and get in touch with him.
2. swagbucks.com- This is a search engine that gives you Swag Bucks every time you use it to search with. You then trade in your bucks for different things in their swag store. I know of many people who trade in their Swag Bucks for Amazon.com gift cards. And it’s all free. You get bucks for just using swagbucks.com as your search engine. If you upload the tool bar and add swagbucks as your homepage you get one buck every day just for turning on your computer! And they’l randomlyl award you 10 swag bucks while your searching, like they did me today! A $5 Amazon.com gift card is 450 swagbucks. I have 112 as of today. If you follow them on Twitter they will randomly give out special codes each week that allow you to get several bucks at once just by putting the code in to your Swag Bucks profile page.
The link below is my referrer link. Clicking on it will take you to swagbucks. com so you can sign up and start earning bucks. I will also get extra bucks for referring you. I’d really appreciate it if you used to my link to get started!
http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/MelMietzner
*Somebody please correct me if I’ve gotten any of this info wrong!
3. Money Saving Mom- This blog is run by a Christian mom and huge Dave Ramsey advocate. She has a wealth of information on grocery deals, coupons, shopping deals etc. She also gives pointers on how to grocery shop on a budget, menu planning, cooking inexpensive healthy meals and couponing. Check her out!
4. Simply Mel Facebook Fan Page- Ok, I’m totally self marketing here. If you’re not a fan of my Facebook page would you consider “fan-ing” me??
5.mkPlanet- This site was created by a missionary’s kid ( MK) and is meant to be a a place for MK’s and Third Culture Kids (TCK) to get together, talk, start discussions, share stories and provide resources for each other. It’s a neat site! And, in case you’re wondering why I have this on my list, I’m an MK myself.
6.My Fitness Pal- I’ve already mentioned this one several times. It’s a great, FREE, resource for counting calories and keeping track of what you’re eating and how much you’re exercising. There’s also a place to put in your measurements. You can participate in their message boards if that’s your thing.
7.De.li.cious- This is a bookmarking site. I just started using it and it’s pretty neat. You can keep all your bookmarked sites in one spot and tag them accordingly. You can even do it with recipes and it will keep all those favorite recipes you find in various and sundry places online under one clickable place. Very useful if you’re one of those people (like me!) who are always finding stuff you like online and then forgetting where you saw it.
8. Failbooking.com- This site is hysterical! It’s a collection of the funniest Facebook statuses. Readers are allowed to submit ones that they find. Word of caution: not all of the stuff you read on here is always clean and wholesome. Some statuses have bad language.
9. Stuff Christians Like- Jonathan Acuff hits the nail on the head with his witty commentary on the Christian world. He pokes fun at us, but in a good, clean way. He helps us not take ourselves too seriously and focus on the real reason we’re here: Jesus.
10. Awkward Family Photos- This site is exactly what it’s title implies. You see a ton of hysterical,weird, funny and definitely awkward family photos submitted by readers. It will leaving you either thinking ” What the heck were they thinking?” or ” I hope I don’t see one of my family photos on here!”
Head over to Oh Amanda for more Top Ten Tuesday links!
March 8th, 2010
Yesterday, we had the pleasure of visiting with Lauryn and Daniel for a bit while they were finishing up the week and a half stay of their honeymoon here in New England.
That’s right, their honeymoon. They were willing to share part of their honeymoon time with us! For those of you who don’t know, Lauryn is my cousin….sort of. In law.
When they visited our church yesterday everyone was trying to figure out how we knew each other. Some thought it was a surprise to us that they came while others thought they were a visiting couple that we just happened to hit it off with. And some are probably still not quite sure how we know each other.
Lauryn and I share the same uncle. I’m his niece on his wife’s side of the family (my maternal aunt) and Lauryn is his sister’s daughter. She’s my cousin’s cousin but not my cousin. Sounds like one of those logic/math word problems, doesn’t it?
Lauryn’s mom and my mom have been good friends since they were little meaning Lauryn and I have “known” each other since we were little, although I’m several years older.I haven’t seen Lauryn in almost 10 years.
Lauryn got married two Saturdays ago in Texas and her and her new husband are honeymooning here in New England. Since they were about three hours away from us they thought they would stop by our church for Sunday morning services and then go to lunch with us after. It was a great visit and we were happy to get to meet Daniel for the first time. Daniel and Lauryn are a super cute couple and were glowing from happiness. This was also Lauryn’s first time to meet Katelyn and Madelyn after having read so much about them on my blog! Katelyn quickly attached herself to Lauryn and Daniel and wanted to hold hands with them. Lauryn even kindly took Madelyn to the bathroom while I was waiting to rehearse a song after church! And she didn’t even complain when Maddy got some urine on her. A gracious young lady all the way!
Congratulations Daniel and Lauryn! It was great seeing you! God bless you two as you build a new life together. Love you guys!
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As I’ve mentioned we just started attending a Financial Peace University Class by Dave Ramsey at our church. Tomorrow night will be our second class. Mike and I have been working on our budget all week. We’ve always had a very loose budget and …wow…this budget we have to create for the class is showing us how way off we were living before! We’re also having to share with the instructor {privately} how much debt we have-i.e loans, credit card, mortgage etc. Thankfully we only have a mortgage and some credit card debt. We could be in a much worse financial situation. We cut up our credit cards over the weekend. That was a liberating (yet scary!) feeling. I closed all accounts except the one we have debt on still. We had several accounts open that we weren’t using so it was nice to close those down and be done with them.
I have to say my biggest struggle is going to be a food budget! I’m not used to having an exact, cash only grocery budget. I know we spend way too much on groceries and that’s with the coupons I use when I can. I’m going to try to implement a weekly menu plan, including snacks, and start buying a lot of generic stuff.
I don’t know what the average family of 4 spends on groceries. I don’t know what is considered about right or way too much. I have a feeling we are in the “Spend Way Too Much” category. We usually spend, on average, $160-200 A WEEK on groceries. That makes about $800 a month on just groceries! Our new grocery budges is $100 a week. This will help in our losing weight endeavor as we’ll have to make sure our food lasts the allotted amount of time. We have budgeted eating out on Sundays because that’s what we do. We eat out after church on Sundays and we won’t be be stopping that any time soon. It’s our weekly treat.
This will be an interesting journey but I know we’ll come out ahead! Like Dave Ramsey says ” Live like no else so you can LIVE like no one else!!” (or at least, I think I got that right!) If you get the chance to take this course- DO IT! Even if you think you’re pretty good with your finances it still holds a wealth of info to make your finances even better. He talks about paying off your house sooner, planning for your children’s education, planning for retiring with dignity, and building your wealth. All with wise saving and spending and budgeting. He doesn’t have any get rich quick schemes. His advice and methods are actually hard work and all about delayed gratification- i.e being an adult!
I will most definitely be blogging about our progress!
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To end my post today I thought we’d do a “Guess Those Scribbles” game. Instead of guessing what Katelyn drew you’re going to guess what she was trying to write in this photo:
What was Katelyn trying to write?
I’ll give you some choices:
1) Katelyn Mietzner
2) Katelyn and Madelyn
3)Ni Hao Kai-Lan
4) It’s K-Mart Smart
5) Katelyn and Mommy
Go!!
*Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and/ or fan my blog on Facebook!
March 5th, 2010
I’d have to say this past week was the hardest for me exercise wise. I was super busy and didn’t get on the elliptical until yesterday. I plan on getting on today, tomorrow and {hopefully} Sunday as well to make up for lost time! I also tended to “nibble” a bit more and not count it on my myfitnesspal.com tracker. I blame that on a certain unwanted, monthly visitor that just left. But, even after all that I still lost a pound! When I stepped on the scale this morning I didn’t even want to look because I assumed I had most likely stayed the same or even gained a couple of pounds back. I was thrilled to see I had lost a pound. I’ve now been seriously working on my fitness and weight loss for a month. So in the past month I’ve-
:: Lost 6 lbs
:: Lost 2.5 inches off my waist
I had taken measurements of my arms, thighs and hips a month ago but can’t find where I wrote those down. So, we’ll see next month how much I’ve lost in those areas. Let’s just say that my thighs are the same size as a some women’s waists. Just sayin’.
Yuck.
But since I started this Losing It challenge last week I’ve lost a pound. I don’t know if the previous five pounds should count since I had a head start!
So if you want to count all my six pounds I’ve lost 3% of my weight so far. If you don’t want to count my six pounds and just the one from this past week, I’ve lost .005%! I’ll leave that up to the wonderful ladies hosting this challenge: Mary from Giving Up On Perfect, Jessie from Vanderbilt Wife and Ashleigh from Heart and Home.
I’m up for a busy few months ahead of me. I’m really going to have to manage my time well if I want to continue exercising. We’ve started going to the Financial Peace University class our church is offering and that’s every Tuesday night from 6:30 to 8:30. I have Awana and Bible study on Wed night’s from 6:30-8:00 and then I’m hosting a ladies Bible study at my house on Thursday nights from 6:30-8:30(ish). We’re doing Beth Moore’s study on Esther. I’m really excited about it. On those three days Katelyn goes to school from 11:30-1:55 so I”m gone from 11:00 to about 2:30 those days. That may not sound like a lot but it’s smack in the middle of the day so I don’t get much done before we leave and once we get back I try to get on the elliptical and also take care of my other housekeeping stuff, dinner and the kids. So that doesn’t leave me a lot of time to get much done before my other commitments on those nights. When I get real busy and stressed the first thing I usually let go is my exercise. I really don’t want to do that this time! I told Mike my exercise is not going to fall by the way side this time. I guess it will have to be the house!
So, how is everyone else doing? Write about your journey and link up to the challenge!
Keep up the good work!
March 3rd, 2010
Do you have some little early birds in your life? I do. I try to get up between 6:00 and 6:30 every morning to have coffee, read my Bible, pray and try to get some blogging and computer time in. For the longest time this plan wasn’t working. The girls were getting up at the same time I was. No matter what! I tip-toed, I tried to step around creaky floor boards, I used a white noise machine etc etc. My girls were still getting up at the same time I was or a few minutes into my quiet time. I was starting to get really frustrated. I got tired of yelling upstairs for them to go back to their room. Then I would hear giggling and pitter patter of little feet coming down. I couldn’t get mad at that! Ideally, I want them to stay in their room until 7:30 am. So I decided to try something I’ve heard and read about.
I bought them an alarm clock. I went to Target and bought a cute, pink, digital one.
As you can see, I wrote “7:30″ on a bright pink piece of paper in BIG numbers. I told Katelyn that they could not come out of their room in the morning until the numbers on the clock match the numbers on the paper. We also set the alarm to go off then too. So far it’s working! They may get up at 6:30 or 6:45 but they don’t call me or come out of their room until that alarm goes off. They’re allowed to play until their heart’s content but they may not interrupt me until 7:30 am. (Unless there’s an emergency, of course)
Works for me!
This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday over at Rocks In My Dryer.
March 2nd, 2010
I swear since I’ve had children my sense of smell has gone into overdrive. I swear I have super smelling capabilities. It’s not always a go0d thing. For instance, when I’m the only one in the room who smells my daughter’s poop in her pants. When I’m pregnant, everything smells like pee. When I mop the floor in the kitchen I can’t go in there until it’s completely dry or else I smell urine.And sometimes, even then, there’s still a lingering smell so I spray half a can of Lysol to get the smell out. If I don’t do that I throw up. My mother in law (who is an extremely clean person) had to give me a paper plate at dinner once because the dinner plate she gave me, fresh from the dishwasher, you guessed it, smells strongly of pee. I was gagging and getting ready to upchuck. She graciously did not get offended and gave me a scentless paper plate instead.
Anyway, my super sense of smell also allows me to enjoy pleasant smells all the more. Here are my top ten favorites in no particular order
Simply Mel’s Top Ten Favorite Smells
1. Coffee
2. Freshly bathed babies and children
3. Men’s cologne
4. Fresh bark mulch
5. Bleach
6. Christmas candles (Fern and Evergreen scents)
7.Pumpkin Spice Candles
8. Fresh cut grass
9. Brownies baking (well, any baked good for that matter!)
10. The scent of Pampers Swaddlers diapers
Ok, I get that this one is weird so let me explain. When my first daughter was born the hospital used Pampers Swaddler diapers. Those diapers have a strong, unique scent that always reminds me of the euphoric time after my daughter’s birth. It brings back great memories. I’ve been caught sniffing other people’s ( Friends! Not strangers!!) Pampers just for the smell!
I linked up this post to Top Ten Tuesday over at Mandi’s blog (who’s hosting it today). You should too so head over there and do it already!
February 28th, 2010
If you give a two year old girl some lip gloss she’ll probably want to smear it all over her face…
and smearing it all over her face will remind her that she has a big sister who would also likes to smear apply lip gloss. So she’ll probably ask for lip gloss for her big sister…
And once big sister applies lip gloss to her face it will remind her that she needs practice applying it to other people’s faces…
so she’ll ask daddy to be her model.
And once daddy agrees to be her model, mommy will thank God for having such a wonderful husband and father of her children…
……and remember that she has a blog where she loves to post about her husband and lip gloss loving girls
….. and then she’ll remember she has a camera and that this is a blog worthy moment
…And take pictures. Lots pictures.
……And post it on her blog. And when her little girls see the pictures on her blog, it will remind them that they love make-up.
So they’ll probably ask mommy for some lip gloss.
**100 Simply Mel points if you recognize the children’s book that this post is {trying to} reference
February 25th, 2010
Although I posted this yesterday(2/25) the kind ladies who are hosting Losing It:Not Just Our Sanity are letting me link up today (2/26).
Losing It is a 10 week weight loss contest/challenge hosted by Mary, Jessie and Ashleigh. Click here for more info on the challenge. There will be prizes! But, of course, the biggest prize of all will be lost weight!! (Hopefully never to be found again!)
Check it out and join us!
My original post can be found below.
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I’ve recently stumbled on the will to actually stick with a weight loss goal recently. I haven’t been on it for long however but I feel good about it! I think part of it is because I feel like the proper diet and exercise will boost fertility but also because if I look pregnant I actually want to BE pregnant. That is not the case right now. I definitely look it. I weigh around the same a when I was nine months pregnant with both my girls! GROSS!!
So I wanted to share a couple of tips and what I’ve done in the past almost-two-months of trying to lose weight. Oh, in case you were wondering, I’ve lost five pounds. I’m not going for fast weight loss. I’m going for slow and steady.
The Daily Routine…
So, what I’ve been doing so far is trying to get on my elliptical 3-4 days a week for 25 minutes. I’m slowly upping my time by anywhere from 1 to 4 minutes every few weeks. I started out at 20 minutes and will try to get to about 35 minutes. Because I don’t want to be overwhelmed by the idea of exercise (which I hate), I will probably never be one of those people who gets on the elliptical for an hour 5 days a week. I will probably never go longer than 35 or 40 minutes. An hour just seems way too long to me! Half an hour is very doable in my mind. If I think of daily exercise in hour segments I get discouraged and think ” Ugh. I don’t have time for that every day. I guess I can’t do it”. Not to mention I’m beyond out of shape and an hour would kill me! But half an hour out of my day changes my mindset towards exercise. It’s weird but it works for me! I would, however, like to be able to fit it some form of exercise 5-6 days a week at some point in the future. Twenty minutes to half an hour is also very doable when you have small children in the house who are constantly trying to sabotage your exercise plans. I try to plan my time on the elliptical around a favorite t.v show that way I have something to look forward to. Right now I’m either watching “Yes, Dear” , “A Baby Story” or “Bringing Home Baby” during my workouts.
In the near future I would also like to start out doing Pilates 2 days a week and then progress to 3. I love Pilates because it strengthens your whole core with moves that incorporate your whole body. There are no sit ups or lunges or anything. And the beginners routine I have lasts 10 minutes and I can feel it at the end! The DVD I uses is very soothing and doesn’t go past 30 minutes at the highest level.
The Daily Mind Set..
What I’ve done is try to make getting on the elliptical as easy for myself as possible. I wake up in the morning with it already on my mind and the decision that I WILL get on that elliptical. I write it in my daily planner. I take my work out clothes down stairs along with my sneakers and tennis shoes so they’re right there when it’s time to use them. This to save precious minutes I may use to get sidetracked or to talk myself out of going upstairs to get that stuff. That may seem silly or trivial but every little bit helps me stay focused. I do this on the days that I take Katelyn to school in the middle of the day and know I won’t be exercising until later in the day. On days I don’t take Katelyn to school I go down stairs partially dressed in my work out clothes already. Then I pick a show I’m going to watch and set my work out time for then. Then, I keep a steady eye on the clock so I don’t miss it! Everybody goes potty, has a drink and a special toy to play with before I get on the elliptical. I told the girls they may NOT ask for anything while I’m on it. And I say this almost every time I’m on it- ” IF I….(gasp for breath) HAVE TO GET OFF… (gasp for breath) THIS THING …(gasp for breath)…. TO SEPARATE….(gasp for breath)…. YOU TWO…..(gasp for breath) … SOMEBODY IS GOING TO GET IT!!!!”. (heaving chest, gasping for breath). The girls are starting to understand that elliptical time is mommy time and they need to be good and quiet or there are consequences after mommy stops gasping and heaving.
The Daily Food Plan……
If you know me at all, I love to eat. And I hate being on any sort of “you can eat this but not this ” plan. I usually give up on any plan that requires me to drastically change my eating habits, requires extra work or special food. Right now I eat what I want and track it on www.myfitnesspal.com I started in the beginning using myfitnesspal.com strictly as a food diary. I wanted to see exactly what and how much I was eating every day. I’ll just say it was scary.
It will tell you how many calories you need to eat a day for your height and weight. You can log in and keep a record of what you’ve eaten and it will deduct the calories from your daily allotment. When you log in your exercise it will add calories to your daily allotment (yay!) You can also keep track of your exercise and any notes about how you feel about your eating and exercising that day. Right now, my daily allotment is 1500 calories. When I exercise I get 300 extra calories to eat.
If you remember I’ve been trying to move to a whole/ real food diet. While that kind of diet is healthy for you the foods that aren’t fruits and veggies tend to have higher calories because they aren’t diet foods. I eat a lot of full fat dairy. The whole grain breads I eat have 110 calories a slice! So my portions can’t be very large if I want to have any calories left for the end of the day. What I’ve found is that even though my portions are smaller I enjoy the flavor and they satisfy me longer because the food isn’t “diet or fake. I’ve had to learn balance in my eating. I usually don’t count fruits and veggies (unless they’re covered in some sort of sauce etc) a la Weight Watchers. My whole family has been more adventuresome as of late and my girls are eating fruits and veggies they refused to eat before. And Mike? He’s eating salad! Actual grilled chicken salad with balsamic vinaigrette! And steamed carrots with salt and butter! He’s found he likes spinach!
Ok…..you can pick yourself up off the floor now. For those of you who don’t know Mike, he’s an UBER DUBER (yep. It’s a word I just made up) picky eater. For years he wouldn’t touch fruits or vegetables other than an apple. He doesn’t eat any sauces or dips other than barbeque and ketchup and the boy still won’t eat macaroni and cheese. Who doesn’t like macaroni and cheese?!!! Anyhoo…I digress.
So, eating healthier as a family really helps.
I’ve been having to eat lunch on the go lately because of Katelyn’s school schedule. I drop her off at 11:30 and then usually run errands for the two and a half hours she’s school since we live about 25 minutes from her school. I’ll admit… I hate packing a lunch for myself on those days so I don’t always do it. Nothing ever sounds good other than a couple of snack items. So, sometimes, I grab lunch at the two places close by. McDonald’s and Burger King!! But, I’ve managed to make it work for me. Madelyn loves chicken nuggets and fries as does Katelyn. I love McDonald’s chicken nuggets and fries! What I usually do is share chicken nuggets with the girls. I’ll get a 10 piece nugget and eat 8 pieces and give Maddy two (which is about all she wants to eat of the chicken anyway). If I eat 8 nuggets and a small fry that comes to 483 calories. Sometimes I treat myself to a sweet tea from there (which I LOVE) for 230 calories. I’m full and don’t feel deprived at all. At Burger King I eat a Whopper Jr with cheese and mayo for a total of 420 calories. I factor those things in to my daily eating habits and work accordingly. Some days I may go over and some days I stay under my calorie allotment. But I don’t over think it. If I eat unhealthier foods one week because of splurging eating out, I try to balance that out over the next few days with extra water, fruits and veggies. I’m trying to do what works for me so I don’t feel deprived and like I’m starving all the time.
I allow myself one “treat” every day. It’s usually after dinner when I’m really craving something sweet. And it’s usually Nutella on a piece of toast with a cup of milk. I look forward to that snack every day. I save calories for it every day. And, sometimes I still have it even when I don’t have any calories left over! It’s all about what works for you and what is going to help keep you heading towards your weight loss goal. Guilt and deprivation does not work for me.
Stuff I like……
Some healthy foods that I’ve discovered I like are Kashi Cereal. Especially Kashi Go Lean Crunch with honey, almonds and flax and Kashi Go Lean Crumble with blueberries and cranberries. I usually add about half a cup or so of frozen blueberries to that cereal and it’s a super filling and super healthy way to start my day.
I’ve also come up with a parfait snack that I love.
I take half a cup of Stonyfield Farm organic whole milk french vanilla yogurt and layer it with half a cup of frozen blueberries and half a cup of Grapenuts cereal. It’s delicious and nutritious. You could use whatever low fat or non fat yogurt you would like in place of the full fat type I use. It comes to 345 calories. I like it for breakfast too.
Have you heard of Sketchers Shape-ups? I bought a pair last November. They are pretty pricey but worth the money, in my opinion. I use these babies whenever I go grocery shopping or am going to be doing a lot of walking. First of all, they are super comfortable!!! I feel like I’m walking on a bouncy cloud! Secondly they really do work your glutes and thighs. If I wear them for half an hour or more of walking I feel it when I take them off. They are also good for posture and lower back pain. Am I burning a ton of calories and going to get in shape just by wearing these? No. But I feel like every extra lit bit counts. If I can turn grocery shopping or a trip to Wal-Mart into a toning session even better! I don’t wear them on the elliptical because of the wedge. They put me at a weird angle I don’t like while on it.
Another resource I turn to (not often enough!) is the book “Body By God” by Dr. Ben Lerner. Our Chiropractor lives by this book and gives copies away to his patients.That is how we came to own a copy!
There is a wealth of valuable exercise and nutrition information in this book. I highly suggest reading it! There are two things in his book that Ive been using lately.
1.Throw your scales away!
Ok, I haven’t thrown them away but I’m not completely depending on them as the gauge for my fitness success. His point is that our weight fluctuates and if we let our success be determined by the numbers on the scale we’re going to get discouraged and quit. He says to not even use scales and only go by your measurements and how your clothes fit. Muscle weighs more than fat. I hadn’t measured myself in ages and never used them as a guide. I now check my measurements once a month. I took my measurements late in the game so I’m due to check them for another week or so. For right now, I’m using the scale just to keep somewhat of a gauge on my progress here at the beginning.
2. Maximum heart rate and fat burning zones.
Each of us have fat utilization heart rates when we exercise. Usually that is 55% to 75% of our maximum heart rate. Maximum heart rate is defined as “the number of beats per minute your heart should not exceed during exercise”. That heart rate is dangerous and painful. He talks about three different rates you can exercise at and which ones are the best. The Fat-Utilization Rate (FUR) is appropriate and comfortable for people at all stages of life and exercise.
The second one is the Performance Enhancement Rate (PER) which is 75%-85% of your maximum heart rate is recommended for serious athletes who are looking to make gains in distance and speed as well as burn fat.
The third one is the Sugar-Utilization Rate (SUR)- This is at or near maximum heart rate and not recommended. It begins to burn sugar for energy instead of fat . There is high caloric output but also high amounts of dangerous stress being placed on your cardiovascular system.
Here is the formula for determining your maximum heart rate=
220 minus Your Age
So for me that would be 220-31= 189. That’s my MAX heart rate level. The level in which my heart should NOT be beating while exercising.
To figure out my FUR rate (55-75% of my max heart rate) I would take 189 x55%= 103. That’s the lowest my heart rate should go to still be burning fat. The highest fat burning rate would be 189×75%= 141. So my FUR is 103-142 BPR. When I’m on the elliptical I try to keep my heart rate between those to numbers.
I know this post was long but I hope I wanted to share what I’ve learned recently and what’s been working for me!
I’d love to hear how everyone else is doing with their fitness goals.
February 24th, 2010
Me: Why is Cinderella over here in the corner by the bird cage?
Madelyn (2.5 years)- Because she’s in time out. She be naughty.
Me: Oohhhkay
Katelyn (4 years) to Madelyn: I have to go potty. Lets count to five and wait for daddy to come out so I can go in.
Madelyn: Ok
Katelyn and Madelyn together: One, two, three, four, five…
Madelyn: …..Six, seven..
Katelyn: No! We’re only doing FIVE.
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Katelyn to me: Mama, are there a lot of numbers in Maxachussetts? (that’s how she says Massachusetts! lol)
Me: Uh….sure.
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Katelyn to Madelyn while in the tub: Madelyn did you know that if you’re blind you can put mud on your eyes and you won’t be blind anymore? That’s what Jesus did. He put-ed mud on a man’s eyes that was blind and then he could see!
Me to Katelyn: Yes, Jesus did that because he was Jesus and he did miracles like that during Bible times but that kind of miracle really doesn’t happen today.
Madelyn to Katelyn: Yeah, becauth(Maddy has a bit of lisp every now and then! So cute) ….if you put mud in your eyes……….you will have muddy eyes!!
(So much truth to this statement!)
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While watching ” A Baby Story” the other day ( still not sure how wise of an idea it was to watch it with the girls around ) Katelyn was captivated by the woman giving birth. As she was pushing Katelyn looked at me and said in complete awe and wonder ” IS THE BABY IN THE MOMMY’S BUM???”
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This post is linked to Wordful Wednesday at Seven Clown Circus 
February 23rd, 2010
In no particular order, here are my Top Ten things I’m addicted to as of late
1. Blogging (duh)
2.Nutella-
Love this on whole grain toast. It’s been my snack here lately. Uses up a chunk of my calorie reserve but boy is it worth it!
3. Glee-
Cannot get enough of this show! It’s on hiatus right now but will be coming back on next month. Can’t wait!
4.Kona Coffee.
5. Audio books on my i-pod.
Especially murder/suspense/thrillers! My chores and housework go a lot faster while listening to audio books.
6. Facebook
7. The Kardashians
I don’t watch this show regularly but when I do I’m hooked! I can’t stop watching the train wreck that is this family! And it’s not fair that one family can have all this beauty. Spread the good looks gene around!
8. McDonald’s Sweet Tea- Another calorie buster but it’s soooo good!
9. Beth Moore Bible Studies
Love this woman and her writing! She is truly gifted by God in that area.
10. Catching up on” Lost” with my hubby in the evening.
I’ve watched up to season 3 and my husband is just now getting into “Lost” so we’re in the middle of season 1 together. We’ve been watching several episodes at once on Friday nights and weekends together. It’s been fun!
I linked up to Oh Amanda’s Top Ten Tuesday. Go check it out and link up your own Top Ten!
February 22nd, 2010
It’s been 19 months of trying to conceive a third child. Well, 19 and a 1/2 but who’s counting, right? (Me!!!!!) Almost 4 months since I wrote this post about my secondary infertility. I thought it was time to write about this sensitive topic once again. When I wrote that post almost 4 months ago I was obviously hoping that by now I’d have posted an “I’m pregnant!” post. That was not to be. I’m expecting “Aunt Flow” any day now but still maintain the hope that this will be “it” this time. I keep thinking ” How long is this really going to take?”. And I continue to feel guilty when reading blogs by women struggling with conceiving for the first time like Ashley at For The Love Of Shoes…..And A Baby Too. I feel terrible when I read that a dear friend of mine who has one beautiful little girl has miscarried yet again after trying to conceive for about a year. How terrible it must be to be able to conceive and go on to the lose the baby. Not once but many times over. How those two little lines that appear on that pregnancy test must hold hope and fear at the same time. I have so much empathy to give to women struggling to conceive for the first time because I was there. But then I wonder if they really want to hear from me since I already have two kids.
I’ve been hit recently by, what feels like, small” blows.” Three women I know have announced they are “oopsie” pregnant. And none of them are in a good situation for having children-i.e unmarried or not in a healthy marital relationship and in severe financial strain. You can say what you want about marriage being old school and not needed to raise a child but I still hold firm to my belief that it does matter. But, we’ll save that discussion for another day. Two of the women aren’t even sure they can handle a baby at this point! And I stand here looking skyward and saying ” HOW IS THIS FAIR???”. I’m in a pretty darn good situation to have another baby, yet, for some reason, it’s not happening.
I’m in an odd situation because of my secondary infertility. After doing some reading on the subject here I’ve found that secondary infertility affects 6 out 10 cases of infertility. That many couples struggling with secondary infertility are less likely to seek out a doctor because they assume once fertile always fertile. And in most cases couples suffering from SI don’t get the support from friends and family they need because they don’t feel it’s something they should complain about and feel guilty about desperately wanting more children. There are many people wondering why I write about such personal stuff for everyone and their brother to read. It’s for support! It’s therapeutic for me. And I hope that ,in some way, I can be a blessing to others as I write about my struggles.
The causes for SI are many times the same as they are for primary infertility.
Here’s what secondaryinfertility. org says:
Couples may find that since the last pregnancy, one partner had an infection, gained weight, or started eating things that aren’t* healthy for them – affecting their fertility. Also, as we age, eggs become of lower quality and sperm counts may decrease. In fact, abnormalities with ejaculate or sperm are often to blame for secondary infertility. From ovulation problems and endometriosis to uterine fibroids and pelvic adhesions, the causes of secondary infertility are often treatable – and many couples find that after just a few short months they are able to conceive naturally once their issues are resolved.
*Don’t bother clicking “healthy”. For whatever reason it takes you to a site completely unrelated to this topic!
The weight gain part is certainly one that applies to me and Mike. Which is why we are working hard at eating healthier foods and exercising not only to give our fertility a little boost but for overall health benefits. None of this will matter, however, if it’s not God’s timing for us to have a baby. I still believe that if God wanted us to have a baby right now He would have given us one. Maybe God wants us to be a little healthier. Maybe He sees some “behind the scenes” issue that we know nothing about that would make having a baby right now not a good thing. I don’t know! All I know is that I do trust Him, as much as I hate waiting and wondering.
Some days I’m really content. My girls are actually getting to the point where they’re “easier”. They’re bigger now so I don’t have to lug around as much stuff as I used to. I can take them places and not have to pull out a stroller or a car seat. (Although I’d gladly do that!) Other days I long for another baby so bad my heart hurts. And Katelyn has gotten to the point where she’s literally begging for a baby sibling! I would love to make Katelyn and Madelyn big sisters. They would make great big sisters! I truly don’t feel like they are “it”. I do have peace that God will give me more children. I just don’t know when!
As for the next step for us? I’m not sure yet. I will probably be having another ultra sound in the near future after (if??) Aunt Flow comes. Then we’ll see if the cyst is gone. After that, I have no idea what we’ll do.
A Bible verse that has been close to my heart here lately is this one:
Psalms 37:4-5
Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass.
I don’t want my secondary infertility to define who I am. I don’t want to be ” Hi, I’m Mel, and I struggle with secondary infertility. Nice to meet you.” I want to be Mel,who delights herself in the Lord. Mom and wife. Blogging addict. Coffee consumer.
Another couple of verses that almost makes me laugh it hits so close to home, is this one within the same chapter:
Psalm 37:7-8 (bold mine)
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret in only causes harm.
Allow me some liberty to re-write this verse and show you how I think it applies to me :
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not get upset about other women who are getting pregnant before you when the circumstances are not right for it. Cease from thinking it’s unfair and forsake getting angry. Do not worry, stress or question God’s ability to provide another child for you. It’s not doing you any good and only causing you harm.
This is why I love my God and His Word! The Bible is applicable today even though it was written so long ago. And God is so loving and patient He allows me to yell ” IT’S NOT FAIR!!” and stomp my feet at Him. But then He wants me to stop throwing a tantrum and just trust Him.
I’d love to hear from you if you’re struggling with fertility issues. I would like to start a blog roll of blogging women who struggle with primary and secondary infertility.
And if you’re one of those disgusting fertile people ( kidding!!!) who wants to show support or doesn’t know what to say just tell us you care and love us and want to show your support. And if you’re a Christian tell us you’ll pray for us! (And really mean it!)
And, please, if you get pregnant(and are happy about it) don’t refrain from telling us or act awkward. That honestly makes things worse! I know women are getting pregnant out there every day and the world doesn’t stop because I’m not getting pregnant. I may feel a tug of jealousy and sadness for myself but I’ll still be happy and celebrate with you. You deserve to celebrate and rejoice as much as you want. It’s a wonderful occasion! But, if you’re not happy about it and wish you hadn’t gotten pregnant… don’t tell me those little bits of info. Keep those to yourself.
