Eat Until I'm Skinny

Hey Everyone!

Two things:

1) I was super excited to see that I got a little shout out by Mommyfriend who just joined Weight Watchers! I was pleased to see how well it really works that I had to give her a few ideas.

2) Weight Watchers really does work! I know a handful of people who are also following the program these days and it's proven to be successful for all of them.
My weightloss had reeaaalllly slowed/plateaued the last several weeks. I kind of was on autopilot and wasn't tracking my food, but was still eating well. That is actually a really good sign because then once I reach my goal, I feel like I won't gain everything back. However, I haven't reached my goal yet. And when you only have 5-10 lbs to go, those are hard pounds to lose!
I know there are people who think that eating healthy is super boring and bland and everything tastes like cardboard. But let me tell you, that is NOT the case at all. Honestly, the food I've made the last 14 weeks has been more delicious than most of the things I was preparing before. I try to avoid a lot of processed foods, so everything tastes fresh. I should also mention that frozen "diet" dinners are NOT health food! They're fine if you're in a bind, or every once in a while, but if you think that's all you can eat because you're watching your weight, you would be wrong. :) So feel free to check out my Eat Until I'm Skinny Pinterest board to check out some of the things I've tried. Some of them sound crazy and weird. They are crazy and weird and delicious! That's the best part about being on Weight Watchers. I've tried so many more new foods and recipes and it turns out I like a lot of them.
I know I brought up starting a food & recipe blog and technically, I have started it. It's just embarrassing because it's not cute and I am NOT a food photographer. I've taken pictures of my cooking, but I usually forget to take a photo or 6 along the way and people don't make recipes that don't have pictures. It's a fact based on my years of research. So yeah. Maybe some day I'll publish it, we'll see. But for now, I'll just pin everyone else's recipes and cook my way through their blogs.

Oh and 3). I know I said there were two things, but there's three. Poor little Charlotte woke up a little earlier than normal this morning, and I was getting ready for church. She was just chatting happily, so I waited just a little bit before going in to get her. (Like 3 minutes - nothing big) The poor little nugget had puked ALL over the place. I have no idea when it happened, but Marcus said he was up at midnight and checked on her, and she was fine then. But boy oh boy. That's not how I envisioned our Sunday morning. Such a mess. And she has a rash all over her torso but no fever. I stocked up on bland food and some rice milk instead of dairy (she loves the stuff), and I bought the clear store brand pedialyte. Why in the world would they make that stuff bright red, orange and purple?! It's specifically designed for a dehydrated vomiting child. Hello stains! So I bought clear. I tasted it and almost puked. There's no way she'll drink that garbage. Hopefully she's done throwing up anyway...but yuck dude. Her cute bedding is completely stained from yesterday's food. I have a matching back up sheet, but it's on the blanket and bumper. I suppose that's what happens...
So hopefully she's on the mend, but I can tell that she doesn't feel great. Wish us luck! health!

Have a happy Sunday!

What's New...

I've started more blog posts in the last week or so, but never finished them. I had one with the details of Charlotte's birthday party, one with another random update, but I find I'm so bored with myself, there's no way that anyone would really care to read the goings-on.

So yeah, Charlotte's party was fun! I made punch that was supposed to be this beautiful sparkly clear blue to match her winter themed party. But when I was looking at the recipe, I combined it with another recipe without thinking. So when I went to go get my groceries, I just bought what was my on my list. I made two separate mixtures as the recipe suggested. One was a dark clear blue. One was orange.
"Hmmm" I thought. "If I remember correctly, orange and blue do not make blue." I mean, I went to D-K because I wasn't advanced enough for regular kindergarten. It was supposedly because I couldn't hop on one foot, but I learned a lot of other reasons why I was in "developmental kindergarten". I couldn't fold, I couldn't cut, I couldn't color and I couldn't decipher the difference between skipping and galloping. BUT, I  always knew my primary colors. I learned a lot from Reading Rainbow - but you don't have to take my word for it...

So back to the punch. I mixed the two together thinking that maybe some sort of miracle would occur and that orange and blue would suddenly still make blue..but nope. I got a thick, creamy, swamp green.
What a dodo.

I'm still sweeping up glitter in my dining room from all of my tacky decor. But I sort of feel like when you're cleaning and you sweep up glitter, it's quite certain that a good time was had.

In other news, I was notified recently that I'm going to be "temporarily" transferred to another branch at work. I'm not so certain how temporary it is, and I am stressed out about it. It's not ideal, but whatever. I have to be a team player. I'm working on it.

Okay. Sorry about the ridiculous post, but I felt as though I needed to check in.
More later!

The Time I Said What I Was Thinking

I know. You're probably thinking, "wait, sometimes you keep things inside your head?!"
It's true. Sometimes I do. In fact, I do a lot. But there's a TON in my head. Like, if I always said what I was thinking, it would be a constant stream of chatter. You're probably thinking, "wait, it's always a constant stream of chatter..." and you might be right.

sigh

Anyway, as I was saying...

There was a time recently where I just said it. Right out loud to a stranger. And it felt real nice.

Let's start with the basics.
Characters: My mom, Charlotte, and me. You could also call us the heroines, the protagonists, or pretty much the nicest people ever.
Then we have the 2 other hags.
Setting: The mall (I know, right?!) after Christmas
Plot: Mom and I are entering the mall. We rush in from the cold parking lot and my mom is holding Charlotte, and I'm pushing the stroller so we can click her in in the warmth that only a mall could offer post-holiday. As we enter, we use two doors for maximum efficiency. Trouble ensues when the hags enter the scene.
Conflict: Hags approach from opposite direction, coming towards the same two doors that we are using to enter. Our arms are full! I'm trying to steer a stroller one handed (I don't have the fancy kind that work this way) and instead of opening the doors for us in the true holiday spirit, they give a dirty look, move two doors down and the short one grumbles, "Geeeeeze, they're taking up TWO doors... <hack hack sluurrrp ogre munching sounds>"

And I turn, and I say, "Heaven forbid you help someone!!!!"

Yeah.
I really told her.

I don't think she heard me, but sometimes that's not the point. It's the thought that counts, and I had big mean thought and I said it right out loud.
BOOM.

Oh, and Theme: The general theme of this story is based on anger and frustration. There is no hidden message or even a moral.

Perhaps, just maybe, this story was hyped up a little more than it should have been. But that's all part of story telling, now isn't it?

365 Days

It's hard to believe that a year has gone by since I delivered my beautiful, healthy, 8 lb 3 oz baby girl. And I'm pleased to announce that we all made it through that year.
We survived an entire year without having a clue what we were doing. We endured the challenges that come with nursing and bottles, baby wearing and crying it out. We survived nap time routines and teething, swaddling and breaking the swaddle. We took photo after photo of mundane life, and waited with tingly anticipation for the first time that she rolled over, crawled, or pulled herself up. (And she's so close to those first steps!)
We had the video rolling for her first tastes of food, her attempts at sharing, and crawling backwards down the stairs.
I shed tears of exhaustion, guilt, fear, love, and joy. I laughed out of all of those same emotions.

We went from this:

To this:


Photo by Anne Jansen Photography



in the blink of a couple teary eyes.

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Charlotte Jane. You've brought more joy (and fear) into my life than I ever thought possible.

A Year Ago Today

This was my last picture at home. Just me and the Darbs.

And about 12 hours later, I had a little girl named Charlotte.
What a year that followed!
More to come on that... :)

Another Year Behind Me

Instead of doing a post that requires creativity and thoughtfulness, I've decided to make a simple list. A list of the things I felt I needed to blog about throughout the last year.

We'll start with the most obvious:

• Charlotte Jane joined our family on January 4. What a way to start a new year! You can read about it here and here.
• I went back to work as a part time employee. It took some major getting used to, but I'm loving it now. If you want, you can read about that transition here.
• Maybe not so notable, but slightly funny. We learned that doing regular things can turn into a big stinky adventure when you have a kiddo. Why shopping online is just easier sometimes.
• And only because people liked it the first time around, Marcus' "guest" blog.
• Little Charlotte is 6 months!! 
• Charlotte is Baptized! That was a great day for sure.
• My blog turned 1. Not that big of a deal, but if you like recap posts, this one is for you.
• We went on the trip of a lifetime in September when we traveled to Italy. Here's that post.

I didn't blog about these things, but believe it or not, they still happened.

• A few of my neighbors and I formed a team and participated in the Grand Rapids Mud Run, and I lived to tell - sort of. I didn't "tell" much about it. So now you know.
• Marcus and I celebrated 5 years of marriage! That's a whole hand for most people!
• We enjoyed our first Christmas as a family of three and now have excessive amounts of toddler toys.

2011 was a big blurry year but it feels good to look back and know we made it through unscathed.

The plan for 2012? We'd like to get more organized. I'd like to get back into great shape. I want to enjoy all of the sweet moments of having an only child because...who knows what other adventures 2012 will bring. :)

Happy New Year, everyone!!