Hump Day Happenings..

Hey all!  hope you all had a pleasant long Memorial Day Weekend!!  We were on the go non-stop..  had two baseball games (Brewers v. Diamondbacks), had some people over for a BBQ on Sunday and then went to some friend's house on Monday.. I need a little vacation from my long weekend!! It sure was fun though!!

So, I was able to move my ticker down again back to where I started a couple of weeks ago. Not sure how I managed to lose 2 lbs last week, but I'll take it. I'm back full swing into Pilates and have been doing better on my walking (still need to step up that cardio!) I'm thinking of taking the Zumba class at Lifetime starting in a couple of weeks. You all may remember that I was obsessed with Zumba (ok, really just the instructor) a few summers back. I miss it!  My ankle is still hurting a bit and is still swollen and as yet undiagnosed, so I'm going to wait another couple of weeks and then go for it.

Major NSV and I cannot believe I'm going to post this picture. BUT, you all know about my fear of the shorts?? Well, I've been branching out a little this year and since it's hotter than balls here usually, I decided to buy a couple of pairs. Well, I have worn them while out walking Mac but not really in any sort of public setting (except for the one Brewers game in March in which I thought I was going to die of heat!) but I wore them out to our friend's BBQ on Monday. And guess what?? The Earth didn't shake, the world moved on.. and I was fine. I even got a couple of compliments that I was looking pretty good.  I look at this picture and don't see the large and in charge person that I once was. I see things that definitely need fixing and I know I'm going to get there eventually when I can look at myself and be 90% happy with what I see..  I'll get there..

(please don't mind that horribly messy room! It's one of our guest rooms that needs a little love but since it's on the first floor, it ends up getting all the junk thrown into it!! )

Hubs is on his way to Milwaukee this weekend so it's Mac and I on our own for the first time ever. Not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous. Tim is such a good hands on dad and he's good at taking some of the parent duties over on the weekends.  Add to the fact that I'm convinced that my child currently hates me b/c he whines non stop with me but happy as a clam with Daddy, I'm going to be trying to keep pretty busy!!  (I know he doesn't hate me really, he is teething, but could I get a smile every once in a while?? or a happy to see me hug??)

No blog would be complete without your dose of Mac!  Funny that I even got this picture b/c he had these glasses on for about 2 seconds.. he was trying to get them off when I snapped the pic!

Not such a good start..

So, last week I announced that I was finally setting some goals and I even added a ticker showing the 70 lbs I wanted to lose to get to goal..  take a gander at that ticker above.. notice anything?? It doesn't say 70 lbs to go, it says 72! say what??  Yes, after my lovely couple of weeks of consistently losing, I gained, soo annoying. I'm not one to make excuses so I really don't have any. I had fallen off the no-sugar wagon a few weeks ago and I have continued to ride along in the gravel behind that wagon ever since. I also have been drinking diet coke like it's going out of style soon..  so, there you have it. I'm further away than I was last week!

I did start back up with Pilates last week after a 2 week hiatus with the back injury. It was nice to hurt again! I also have been trying to walk a lot more. It's so freaking hot here this week!! It's supposed to be 108+ all week.

We finally were able to get in the pool on Sunday..  pretty cold still but very refreshing!  Anyone want to come over?? Seriously, us AZ girls need to have a meet and greet!  I'll even offer to set it up! Just need some email addresses!

I'm working on Mac's 1st birthday invites and we took the little fella out the other day to the park and I tried to capture a cute pic for his invite. The kid will NOT look at me when I have a camera in my face...  so this is the best I got, but I LOVE it..

the other day, I posted a pic of my favorite shoes.. I was wrong. I have a new fave!! I bought them when we were in San Francisco...  thoughts?  Super comfy, super cute, but limiting as to what I can wear with them.

could this blog BE any more random??  I didn't get a chance to read any blogs yesterday (work has become a little cookoo  lately so my reading time has been limited.  trying to catch up today!
hope you are all well!
xo,js

10 Things Thursday..

Hey all, here are the most random 10 things I'm thinking about today..

1.  I love Moscow Mules.  Have you ever tried one? It's a delicious mix of Vodka, Ginger Beer, Splash of Lime and Mint..  absolute perfection in a tin cup.  Problem is, it's so refreshing that you suck them down and then after about 4 you realize you have had too many..

2. I have a horrible headache today..  may be b/c I had 2 of the above last night at happy hour with my work girls..  I'm a serious lightweight these days..

3.  Now that my back is feeling better, of course my body feels the need to send some pain to another region.. and the lucky recipient is my ankle. Seriously, woke up the other day, walked down the stairs and boom, ankle starts hurting. It's swollen today for some reason. Not sure what I did but usually I don't seem to have to "do" anything to have an injury!!

4.  I love my wedges I'm wearing today..  could also be contributing to the additional pain my ankle is experiencing though. In my defense, these comfies have a pretty tall platform so the height really isn't too much!

(oh and that's not the ankle that actually hurts.. i have thick ankles!)
















5.  For Mother's Day, Timmy (and Mac) went out and picked out a purse for me.  Now, truth be told, poor Timmy doesn't have a very good record of picking things out of the clothing/purse/accessory department, so when he handed me a Macy's bag, I got a little nervous. It's always a little uncomfortable to open something up that is so clearly not your taste but is so thoughtful at the same time that you don't want to hurt said Husband's feelings.  I had said a few weeks prior that I was needing a fun summer purse b/c I've been carrying my diaper bag/purse around since Mac was born...  so off he and Mac went to Macy's in search of the "fun" summer purse.  I was shocked when I opened this:

I LOVE It!  and it's exactly what I was looking for. Very fun!  He was so proud!  Love those boys!

6.  Anyone else reading "50 Shades of Gray"?  I admit, I bought into the hype and downloaded it.  It's racy, but the writing is horrible and honestly, I'm not sure I can move on to the next one. I hate how the first one ends so that you almost have to buy the 2nd and then probably the 3rd. I wanted it to be over. It got to the point that I was skimming through the sex scenes b/c there are so many of them.  Michelle and I are on the search though for who would play Christian in the movie version if there is one.. I mean, I picture him to be VERY HOT!

7.  Anyone else still watching Grey's Anatomy?  Tonight's the finale and I love their finales.  I still love that show, but have a feeling I might be alone in watching it! I'm also pretty sure I'm the last human who watched Desperate Housewives b/c after the series finale on Sunday night, NO ONE was talking about it.. hmmmmm

8.  No big plans for this weekend except to try to stay cool. I think we are firmly in the consistent 100+ degree days here on the sun.  Hoping my pool is warm enough to spend some time in it.

9.  So, of course after I make my big commitment to hitting my goals, I haven't lost an oz all week!  could also be the liquid dinner I had last night that's clearly not helping my situation.

10.  I'm scheduling my very first mammogram for some time this month. I've had the order from the DR since November. Not sure why I keep putting it off, but I guess I'm just nervous. I need to do it, I'm 40 and need to just get it over with.

Hope you all are well and have a good weekend!!! xo,js

Starting today...

For those who have read my blog for awhile now, you know that I've never shared my weight and I normally don't set too many goals. As a matter of fact, this lapband blog of mine could not be further from an actual weight loss/ lapband blog!!  However, starting today, I am setting a goal. Time to get my shit together and get to where I started out at!

I've finally added a ticker for the first time ever (I've been blogging since 2009!) and as you can see, I have 70 lbs left to go in my weight loss efforts.  No, I'm still not going to share my weight!!  I don't think it really matters what I weigh, it's how much I lose and how I'm doing that matters. Plus, it's really nobody's business!  I would be happy if I lost 50 more lbs making for a total of 130 but my main goal is 70 more, so I would be down 150 from when I started.  My restriction right now is really good, I'm losing weight pretty steadily these days. I'm finally down to pre-preggo weight! And I'm feeling motivated.  I'm even going to set mini-goals (getting really crazy here!)

Lose 10 - July 12th (trip to Michigan)
Lose 20 - Sept 12th (Cabo Trip)
Lose 35 - Christmas

So, I'm basically giving myself another year to lose 70. Would I love to do it sooner than that? Sure thing!  But I want to be realistic too.. I'm going on my 3rd year with the band so I know that losing is going to be slow, slow, slow.

So, that's my plan. Wish me luck!!


Here's a cute little pic of me and my little man from yesterday, my first Mother's Day.. it was fabulous!!!

BYOC!

BYOC!!!

It’s Friday!! That means it’s time for BYOC – Bring Your Own Crazy! brought to us by the Draz.  We answer a few questions to get to know each other better and to give our blogging brains a break. Copy to your own blog if you so desire and have fun!

1. Are you a “wake up on the first beep of the alarm clock” or a “hit the snooze button 50 times before you get up” kind of person? Is your alarm clock set to the right time?

• I generally will hit snooze a couple of times but lately, I get up around 5 when Mac wakes up and feed him and then put him back down and then just lay in bed until around 6ish..when I get up and start getting ready. Literally, my goal each day is to get myself ready before he wakes up again..  I like the challenge of it all! :)

2. Do you decorate for any holidays other than Christmas?

• Not really. I would love to be the type of person who has decorations for every holiday but I just can't get myself motivated to do it. I decorate for Christmas and that's about it.

3. Would you consider yourself a spontaneous fly by the seat of your pants kind of person or a massive OCD controlling planner kind of person or someone in between?

• I used to think I was a spontaneous type until Mac showed up but looking back, I really wasn't. I'm a planner, not in an OCD way, but I do like to know what I'm doing a month from now..  When I go on vacations, depending on the place, I generally just go with the flow.

4. Tell me some of your MUST have hair products that you use consistently….you know - share your “hair routine”. 

• I'm really into Bumble and Bumble products (mainly b/c my friend/hairstylist Jordana bamboozles me into buying them!) but I wash/condition every day and then use their "Straight" gel/serum. I blow dry with big round brush and then use their "brilliantine"smoothing cream and some hairspray and then I'm done.. I am quick and can usually get my hair done in like 7-10 minutes.

5. Repeat question: How was your week and what are your upcoming weekend plans?

• Dear God, my week and the last two weeks have been rough.  First I hurt my back, then we went to San Fran where Mac got sick, finally he was diagnosed with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (they seriously need to come up with a better name than that!) which spread through his daycare like wildfire. He's better but then I came down with a horrible sore throat  (big white bumps on my tonsils) so I went to get checked out yesterday and thankfully it's not strep but just something viral. I feel way better today so I'm hoping our weekend plans include all of us feeling great again! 

We are pretty much going to lay low and relax and get our house cleaned up since we have done nothing all week since we got back from our trip!!  Sunday, we are going to Mother's Day brunch with our friends and then just going to hang in the pool. It's going to get up in the 100s this weekend!  YIKES!! 

And just to show how immature I am, this morning when I walked into our cafe downstairs, I saw this sign..  made me chuckle.

Have a great weekend!! 

I left some lbs in San Francisco...

Hey all!  Just wanted to do a quick recap of our weekend in San Francisco.

First though, an update on my back.  I finally went to see a GP last Wednesday and they gave me muscle relaxers which helped just a little. I went back to my Chiro on Thursday to have them give me anti-inflammatory shots and those helped a little.  Thankfully, while we were in San Francisco, my back pain really didn't bother me. I think it's because we were walking so much and it was loosened up by all the walking.  B/C as soon as I got back to work on Monday, the back pain returned again. Must be from the sitting. It's no where near as bad as last week but it still sucks. I've not done Pilates in over a week and I'm dying!  Doesn't look like I'm going to go back until next week sometime b/c I don't want to injure myself again!  

So, on to San Francisco. We got there on Friday morning and promptly dropped our bags and headed out to explore the city. It was so fun, Mac was in a great mood, we kept stopping at little cafes to have some wine and small bites of food (places I had been referred to eat at!) We did some shopping (thankfully was able to get the 4 new pairs of shoes in my bag on the way home!) and just enjoyed our day!  

Saturday, unfortunately, was when the wheels fell off the bus for Mac. He woke up kind of ornery and I could tell he just didn't feel right.  He was eating fine but just kept falling asleep on me and wanting me to hold him.  We went to the baseball game and he slept through most of it until around the 7th inning when he started to completely lose it (ironically, so did the Brewers..  ) We left the stadium and he was inconsolable. Completely not himself. Got him back to the hotel and took his temp - 103.7.  Being the hypochondriac that I am, I freaked and started talking about taking him to the nearest ER.  We called our Ped here in Scottsdale and they suggested giving him Ibuprofen and seeing if we could get his fever down. So we did and it did go down. That night was miserable.. no one slept.  

Sunday morning, he seemed to be doing much better even though we were all super tired. We ventured out a little more and met up with an old co-worker/Friend that I hadn't seen in over 10 years. It was super fun to reconnect, have her and her husband meet Tim and Mac and just giggle and reminisce.  We walked around a lot some more and then left for the airport.  Mac's fever kept spiking. Luckily he slept through most of the flight, only waking up to scream a few times.. We got him home and he still wasn't better and his temp was back way up so I made the call to take him to the ER that evening.  Oh, and he wasn't taking his bottle either so we were starting to worry about dehydration. After a multitude of tests, lots of crying and even a catheter (oh my heart) they could not find anything besides the fever wrong with him. Poor little guy is now just starting to act like himself, laughing and smiling and eating up a storm.  

I tell you, how people survive the first few years of raising a child without becoming an alcoholic or needing anti-anxiety pills is beyond me.  I've been a mess for the last couple of days, just worried that I'm making the right decisions for him and that he's going to start feeling better soon.  If we have learned anything, we now know that the kid does not adjust to change in his schedule well and does not like hotels (who doesn't like hotels??) so we are probably not going to be traveling with him for awhile if it requires us to stay in a hotel. It's not worth him being so miserable and then dealing with him being sick and trying to get back on schedule for a week later!! 

We did manage to get a couple of kind of cute pics of him on Sunday while we were out and about!! 

San Francisco was NOT kind to my hair!!! 

One good thing about our trip is that I came home about 4 lbs down from last Monday's weight!! woohoo!! looking back, I really didn't overdo it and I barely drank which is very unusual for me b/c I like my beer and wine!! I did fall off the no-sugar wagon and had some treats but I'm trying my hardest to get back on that wagon..

I'm confirmed for Boobs!! I'm rooming with Kristen and we booked our hotel today!! So, super excited about that. 

that's all for now.. keeping Grace in my thoughts tomorrow as she has her band removed..  we are hearing too many stories like hers and it makes me nervous!!  

xo,js 

Back Aches and Frozen Foreheads...

Ugh...... where do I begin.

I have had so much to talk about the past week but just haven't had the motivation to blog..  now, here I sit, under a Vicodin/iced tea haze with writers block!

Why am I on the Vicodin, you ask? Because I, while getting up from the floor whilst cleaning my cabinets, picked up my 20 lber aka Mac on Sunday morning and did something fierce to my back.  I honestly thought the pain from the last month of pregnancy was enough to break me, but that was nothing compared to this pain. How I have managed to work through this is beyond me, but I am a warrior!  I can barely walk when I first get up and then while walking, I get lovely spasms that take my breath away. I went to my chiropractor yesterday and he believes I have a bulging disc. He adjusted me and then they proceeded to give me 6 anti-inflammatory injections and then a massage. Nothing changed. Last night, I took matters into my  own hands and broke out the leftover V that I had from my c-section. I tell you, that helped a lot. But I also think it just helped that I wasn't sitting non-stop, as I have to do at work.  Today, I woke up not feeling much better. Came into work for a bit and then went back to the Chiro. I was basically hoping he would magically fix me, but alas, I'm still in lots of pain.  I do feel about 10% better but who knows if that's the pain pills or if the problem is starting to dissipate.  I just need to be better by Friday, when we leave at 7:00 am to fly out to San Francisco. Mama's got a lot of walking plans on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and let me tell you, picking up the kiddo and walking around don't sound too appealing to me right now!  So, please pray to the back healing gods that I start to feel better soon!  I would appreciate any positive back healing vibes sent my way!

Otherwise, everything else is pretty good. Mac caught the Croup last week so that was fun. Poor guy just was miserable at night but otherwise happy as usual.  He got his first haircut - pics below!  I thought for sure he would wig out but he was cool as a cucumber through it all. He looks like such a little man!!

OH! I keep meaning to blog about this! The company I work for sells Dysp*rt, which is the direct competitor of Bot*x and I got to get a little facial maintenance done as a model for the training class!! Basically, I had 50ccs of the injectible placed right between my eyebrows. It barely hurt and it's fabulous!! Now, when I frown, you don't see the lines! I want to get the rest of my forehead done now but will have to pay for that out of pocket. We do get some amount of reimbursement so I'm looking into it. We also do fillers so I'm hoping the next time the training class comes in, they'll pick me to be the model to have that done. I could use a little filler around my mouth!  I took this picture of myself this morning to show my hubs how I was smiling through the pain! I wish my bangs weren't in the way and you could see what I'm talking about..

My weight continues to move down, which is a good thing. I can't do any Pilates this week or any other kind of exercise (although I'm trying to walk to loosen up the ol' back) so I really have to focus on my eating. I am doing pretty well on the no-sugar thing but I'm not going to lie, I did have a sugar free frozen yogurt on Saturday night.. with Reeces Piece's on it!!! OOPSIE!!!  I've also been getting B12 shots (had a groupon) and I'm not sure if those are helping with the weight loss or not but I'll take all the help I can get!!

Hope you are all well!!!! Starting to get super excited about BOOBs even though it's a ways off!!