Touring England Pt 2

This trip is an amazing whirlwind of activity. The first half of our tour was spent roaming English countryside. The second half of the tour will be spent mainly in and around London. The group of ladies who put this tour together are keeping the kids and the parents hopping from morning until evening. No time to be bored and only a tiny bit of time to blog. Baby J is a trooper. I can't believe how easy he has been to lug along for the ride. We are headed home tomorrow. I'll upload Pt 3 in a couple of days...

a little Redcoat...

a little Buckingham Palace...

a little pause to rest...

a little meeting up with family...

Here's a slideshow of the rest of the photos from "part 2" of our trip...

I'm touring ENGLAND!

Just dropping in to do a quick update. I'm actually in England right now, following my daughter Gracie around on her Senior trip. Me, my mom, and Baby J are hanging out with her, checking out the English countryside, and blitzing through the city of London. We are having a blast...can't you tell!...

a little Stonehenge...

a little Windsor Castle...

a little Roman Baths...

a little Shakespeare...

we are having a great time...

I really wish I could have done a daily blog about our travel but internet access was quite difficult to come by. So...I figured I'd drop in for a sec and let you guys know what I was up to. I'll post more soon.

In the mean time, here's a slideshow of some other photos from our trip...

Weight Loss Update - Monday 3/2

Alright, down another pound this week.  This is for a total of 6.2.

I've kind of found a groove with eating and working out.  This does not surprise me.  My problem is committing to continue these positive behaviors for THE REST OF MY LIFE.  The reality is that I know how to lose it.  I choose not to keep it when I lose the weight and then go back to my comfortable place of eating.  

In order to lose weight and keep it off, I will have to practice telling myself "no" most of the time.

In order to lose weight and keep it off, I will have to avoid high sugar, high fat, foods most of the time.

In order to lose weight and keep it off, I will have to avoid fast foods most of the time.

There in lies the problem.  I have been great at eating health foods some of the time and eating non-healthy foods most of the time.  This is where I am comfortable.

I'm comfortable living life in the fast lane and not really thinking about the foods I put in my mouth.  I feed myself primarily based on convenience.  

It's not that I don't love good food, I just haven't historically taken the time to prepare them myself.  If I don't have the time or money for quality food, then I don't eat it.  Simple as that.

I'm discovering that in order to eat properly, I'm having to take time for myself.  I'm having to slow down and think about what I choose to put in my body.  I'm having to decide to not stay up late so that I can get up at 5am (YES...5am) and make it to the gym/park to exercise.  I'm having to choose to pass Starbucks when that double tall White Chocolate Mocha w/Soy and extra whip in a grande cup is calling my name. (LAWD-HAVE-MERCY).

Bottom line:  I'm having to slow down and think.  Imagine that. Slow down.  Those words are not typically in my vocabulary.  But they are slowly becoming a part of it....fast.

Holla back at me if you are on some kind of get healthy journey yourself.  I'd love to know whose out there on the journey with me.

2/23 Weight Loss Update

Even though I'm still working through how to get regular blogging worked back into my schedule :)....

I thought I'd jump on the blog this evening to give a brief update to my Weight Watchers adventure.

Today I'm officially entering my 3rd week of doing this thing after being ever-so-strongly opposed to it in the beginning.

I'm happy to report that things are going well. At my way in tonight I'm now down 5.2 pounds!

Thinking About Losing Weight Again...

Things are finally starting to feel almost normal again... I'm still enjoying my "babymoon" but I'm also back in the saddle as it relates to schoolin' the kiddos, fixing dinners, and playing taxi driver. Since I'm finding my way back out of the house on a regular basis, I'm also finding that I'm rummaging through my closest for "out" clothes to wear and I'm coming up wanting everytime.

What does this mean?

Sadly, it means that I need to get back to working on my weight - losing some of it - O.K. - ALOT OF IT.

Pregnancy is the blissful excuse to not have to suck things in because there is actually a justifiable reason for abdominal growth that pushes the abdominal area outwards. Even if a woman doesn't technically have to be showing at 12 weeks, being pregnant is a nice and comforting reason for a woman to have to share with others about her little "pooch".

My blissful excuse is officially over. I mean, I've had the baby and had three months for things to shrink down a bit. The shrinking is done. Anything left to shrink will only be taken care of through self-denial and self-discipline (translated eating less and exercising more).

My sister called me tonight around 5:30 p.m. and asked me if I wanted to join her at her Weight Watcher's meeting. I told her I did not. I simply have an issue with Weight Watchers. I think the organization is great. I believe that it works and is wonderful for a lot of people to participate in - just not ME.

Why? Honestly, after a bunch of soul searching and yapping with 'ol sis, the bottom line is that I'm too proud.

You see...joining WW means that I'm admitting I need help. It means that I'm admitting that I could use assistance on this journey of mine.

I really want to lose the weight and say that I did it all by myself. I want to be able to show that I'm strong by myself and that I don't need help in order to achieve the goals that I set out for myself.

I also don't want to have to join an organization that groups me with all of the other people I've looked at from a distance and wondered why the people in that group couldn't get their act together on their own. I mean...if a person knows what to do...why don't they just DO IT? (do you feel the lack of humility here).

In reality, I should have been asking myself that same question.

Although I did drop 30 pounds before baby, when I got pregnant I had already gained about 15 of those pounds back already. 10 years ago I was able to drop 30 pounds too...I didn't keep that off either. So, clearly, although I can lose the weight, there is something faulty with my process because I can't keep it off.

Herein lies the problem. To join Weight Watchers is to admit that I have a flaw...that I have an imperfection...that I am not a force in and onto myself. Imagine that.

My sister told me that she would be at my house in 8 minutes. I still resisted her invitation. Then she offered to pay my first two weeks. I told her that I would go for the ride with no guarantees of commitment.

I got in her car and headed to the meeting, still fighting internally with whether or not I was going to actually PAY someone else for ME to lose weight. I have an issue with paying people to do what I know I'm capable of doing myself for free.

But, in the end, I did it. I joined Weight Watchers.

I've come home and spent some time pouring over my books, my points allowance, and what in the world I can eat without thinking too hard.

I've also been thinking about how my experience with this whole WW thing mirrors the reality of a lot of so-called Christ followers.

Many of us go through life, trying our best to make it. We grunt and groan, trying to carve the best slice out of life that we can. We take one step forward and then find ourselves falling two steps back. We start every New Year's with new resolutions as we write off our past mistakes and vow to do things differently in the next twelve months, only to find that twelve months later we are no better off.

We go to church every Sunday and smile in the face of those who ask us how we are doing. We answer with the typical "fine" and then head back to the very things that we came to church to get help with. We are too embarrased to ask for help. We are too self-conscious to share our struggles, We are too proud to admit that we are not as together as we would like to seem.

It's foolishness. My stupid battle with joining Weight Watchers is just as stupid as Christians who constantly live in some form of defeat simply because they won't be transparent, take off their masks, and admit their inadequacies. We refuse to let others who are either facing the same struggle or those who have experienced victory come alongside us and hold us up, hold us accountable, and hold our hands.

So I'm admitting my need for help even though it is uncomfortable, unsettling, and for me, a bit uncanny.

Where do you need help? Are your willing give a little vulnerability in order to gain some victory?

I hope so...I finally am.

Chronicle Clan

Thought I'd post a recent pic of the fam :)

My Homebirth Slideshow & Birth Story

I'm still enjoying my babymoon and trying to get back in the swing of daily life with a graduating senior, a kindergartner, a preschooler, and a newborn who are all with me all of the time :)

I wouldn't have it any other way.

But while I'm gradually working my way back into to "bloggityville", I thought I'd post something worth reading/watching.

And yes...you read it right. I had my baby at home...on purpose :)

Check out the SLIDESHOW and the BIRTH STORY!

Baby Boy Has Arrived!

We don't have a name yet but....we do know his name will start with a "J"

Baby Boy was born at 3:59 pm, Monday (yesterday) afternoon.

He weighed in at 7 lbs 15 1/2 oz (our smallest baby so far) and is 19 1/2 inches long.

We are all doing fine and resting well at home.

Yes...I'm STILL Pregnant

I have done such a poor job of keeping up with my blog during this pregnancy. There has been a lot to share but I simply haven't done it.

Since I'm virtually at the end, I figured I give a quick update and then announce the birth of baby #5 when he or she arrives.

So, I am officially overdue...once again. I have never had a baby to arrive on or before his or her due date. I thought that with the more babies a woman has, the earlier they come. I had first settled on 11-11-08 as a date that had a nice ring. That may sound silly, but with my first child, I was due on October 25th and prayed and asked the Lord for November 1st baby. I wanted the little one to come on a Friday so that I could rest over the weekend and go back to class ( I was in college ) on Monday. The Lord heard my prayer and my oldest baby girl entered the world on the date I preferred.

No such luck this time. I did pray and request 11/11 but it's now 11/22 and I'm still "heavy with child".

Since Sunday's is my day to look my best, if I'm still pregnant tomorrow, I'll take a shot and post it then. In the meantime, here are a few photos of me pregnant in the recent past.

Here I am at six months:

Oh...and I haven't been pregnant by myself either...

for a hot split second, me, my sister, 'Silla, and sister-in-love, Kanika, were all preggers...



Then 'Silla had to go and unload her precious bundle...

So now, it's just me and 'Nika left...

That is ... until we found out that my cousin 'Wynt is pregnant with TWINS...


Can you say FIVE BABIES in NINE MONTHS...

It's gonna be a circus around here :)

Here I am with my once again skinny, uninhabited sister. I'll be like her sooner than later. I just keep telling myself that this baby will eventually come out.

So, I'm on the verge of bringing another person into the world. Will the birthday be tomorrow? We'll see won't we? :)

Summer Fun - Part 2

Here's another post relevant for the summer daze.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Summer Days At A Glance

Summers are always difficult for me because I'm a routine gal. As much as I want to be a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-person...I'm just not.

A friend once told me that people who are naturally organized don't need charts and schedules and routines written down and posted all over the place, but that those who are naturally chaotic need things written down and planned in order to get anything done. This made sense to me.

People always think I'm organized because they see my with a planner, with a chore chart, and with a routine for my days with kiddos at home. SHHHHHH....don't tell anybody - I'm one of the most random and chaotic people you will ever meet. Here's how I keep things under control though - I plan. I plan myself silly. I have a plan for everything. I plan so much that I struggle to stop planning and get to doing.

Truth be told, I'm a perfectionist and perfectionist don't like to fail. If I stop planning and actually start doing, I open myself up to failing miserably. At least, if all I do is plan than I can succeed at just that...planning :)

Ok...enough self analysis. Here's what I do: I take my schedule from the school year and tweak it to allow for more T-I-M-E. Time for what you ask? Well, time to just be. One of the lost arts these days is knowing how to exist without something to do. It's a skill to be still and master the art of quietness. Plus....boredom is the mother of invention. Kids have wonderful imaginations. They just sometimes don't know it until they are bored :)

The other thing I make sure to allow is plenty of time for taking care of our home. Summer is where I do the bulk of my training because life is slower and I can take all the time I want to make sure that the clothes are folded the right way or that the bathroom clean is done as expected. I try my best not to be "Mommy-dearest" but I do have high standards. I can't help it. I'm a perfectionist. I figure my kids will have something about me to discuss in counseling anyway.

I also put up a summer calender to take care of the "big stuff" - you know - the stuff that the kids really look forward to like family vacation, swimming lessons, summer outings, etc.



I also use the calendar to purposefully plan to do some of the things from our list of Summer Activities. OK...back to the point of this post...our daily summer routine....

AGGGGGGHHHHH... I just got a pop-up message telling me that I'm about to run out of batteries. I'm sitting at Barnes & Noble, getting a little R&R (can you say BY MYSELF) and I can't seem to find an outlet.

So....I will add the daily routine in a subsequent post so that I can at least have a post for today! More to come later...