A Little Push

Every now and then we need a little push with things that we set out to accomplish. In my previous post on New Year's Resolutions, I resolved to get back to my pre-Arabella weight. I have been struggling with this for 21 months now and I am just fed up. After unsuccessfully trying diets and exercise, I decided to do a little research on a diet that a mom that I met through Wee Wiggles tried. It is Smart for Life or some of you may know it as The Cookie Diet. As appealing as the name sounds, I will not be eating cookies all day long. The following are some facts about the diet:

Made with all natural and 60% organic ingredients

Smart for Life products include natural ingredients that have proven health benefits including reducing cholesterol, increase bone health, improving intestinal health and maintaining cholesterol, glucose and insulin levels that are already in the normal range

The Smart for Life® Cookie combine a perfect balance of protein, carbohydrates, fiber and other nutrients that leave you satisfied, control your hunger naturally

Founded by Dr. Sasson Moulavi, MD, a bariatric physician, Smart for Life® is based on his realizations of how food affects our health and uses the American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP) Guidelines

The Smart for Life® Cookie Diet meal replacement foods are nutritionally designed to be balanced and achieve maximum weight loss

I have to eat a cookie every 1.5 to 2 hours and drink as much water as possible. In addition to the "cookies" I will have to eat 10-12 oz of protein (no red meat) at dinner with 5 servings of vegetables. I also will have to potential scale back my treadmill workouts since I am very limited in my caloric intake.

In case you are wondering, this is what 30 days of food (not including dinners) looks like:




It is now time to get serious and down to business. I am confident that I will succeed on this one. And it is time to go have another "cookie"!

Fun Weekend

It seemed as if this weekend went by extremely fast, I used to think that often when I was working, but no so lately. Must have been because we were busy!

Yesterday, I had an appointment and then went to yoga in the evening. I also went again this morning. I think I am addicted to it, as hard as it is and as tired as I am afterwards, I still feel like I am getting stronger. With each class, I am able to get further into the poses. Just to make it through a 90 minute workout in a 105 degree room is no easy task and for that I am have a sense of accomplishment!

Jay and Arabella spent a lot of time together this weekend as he will be in Nova Scotia this coming week. They played in the snow, watched hockey and Shrek, colored and had a fun time. I think she will miss Daddy this week as he has no traveled since November, and I think he just may miss her a bit as well.

I also want to share of pictures of Arabella at her Le Petite Gym class from last week. She has so much fun and just loves her teacher, Leann.











This afternoon, we took a walk to the park in our neighborhood, since it was relatively warm and sunny. Arabella watched the kids play hockey on the rink that they have set up in the park. (I still find it amazing that a town would have a unsupervised, skate at your own risk, rink in all the local parks...probably has something to do with all the litigation that I have done in the past. I can't help but think "Now that is something you would never see in the U.S."). She also was able to swing on a big girl swing by herself. She was having so much fun, she didn't want to go home.

Cucumber Queen

I am amazed at how much Arabella can eat for how little she is. She has come to love eating cucumbers. So much so that she will go to the refrigerator, open the door, open the veggie drawer and pull out a "ber" (her slang for cucumber). She will eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We eat the English cucumbers so they are larger than a regular cucumber. Today in one sitting, she at 2 WHOLE Ber's. I was shocked and amazed, even I can't eat that much cucumber in one sitting and I love cucumbers. She now has a new nickname, Cucumber Queen.

You've Come A Long Way Little Bean

It is hard to believe that Sunday is Arabella's 21 month Birthday! Since that day, our lives have changed and will never ever be the same, and I wouldn't change a thing. Just today I was thinking of the rough start that she had when she entered this world six weeks early. How it was such a scary and uncertain time. Everyday we looked for something positive in the darkness that surrounded us while she spent the first 21 days of her life in the NICU. It was the small stuff, and I mean small, that kept me going. I never knew how strong I was until I had to leave her in the hospital the day that I went home. Looking at her today, you would never know how she struggled in the beginning. She is such a strong, bright, loving little girl who has brought a tremendous amount of joy to our lives. I am so thankful to be her mom. I had no idea what an impression she would make on me. And the love that I have for her is unending. Mommy loves you more than you will ever know Little Bean.

24 Hours After Birth:



Today at Le Petite Gym:

Daddy's Home

Arabella and Daddy have a new evening routine. When he gets home from work, this is what they have to do:



She loves it!

Closet Transformation

If there is one thing that I miss from our Dublin house, it is the Master Bedroom Closet (and Bathroom). I loved that the light would turn on as soon as you walked into the closet. It was also large enough that Jay and I could share the space. Jay also installed a great light above my shoes so that I could see what pair I was looking for. Oh how I miss the small things that make a closet amazing. Our current master bedroom closet is about 1/4 the size of our last one, therefore, I had to plead with Jay to let me have the whole space. There is just no way that we would have been able to share it. Besides, the closet in the guest room is also a walk in and it fits his clothes just perfect!

I had thought that when I unpacked the wardrobe boxes from the move that I would be able to organize the closet as I went. However, that did not happen. It came to a point where I just wanted the boxes emptied and things away. Now, I am ready to tackle the organization of my new closet space.

Here are the before pictures:





I knew that this would be a daunting task so I started by removing everything from the closet. I then began to organize like items together. While grouping the items, I also removed pieces that were old, worn, outdated (unless it was something that I just could not part with for various reasons) or I was just sick of it. Once the clothes were grouped together I began rehanging them in color order. I know, it is kind of anal, but I like to see all of the same colors together, plus it makes things look neater and it is easier to find things. If I want a black top, I just go to that section instead of hunting through all of the shirts. Since there were rods on each side of the closet, I have tops, jackets and oxfords on one side and dresses, pants, capris and skirts on the other. I also picked up 2 great hanging storage units at Ikea and there is one on each side.

Once all my clothes were hung, it was time to address the growing amount of shoes in my wardrobe. I find it hard to part with them even if they are completely worn out or I don't wear them anymore. I have no idea why. I have a hanging rack on the back of the door for most of them. However, I do have 2 shoe shelves that I am using. The one towards the back of the closet holds my boots and a few other pairs of sandals, etc that are not worn often. I even found a use for my old magazines, (Jay, this should make you happy), I roll them up and put them down in the shaft of the boot so they stand up! The other shoe shelve is home to some of my favorite (and expensive) pairs of shoes (and apparently Arabella's as well). She has already taken them out to play with them and tried to put them back without me knowing, she is a girl after my own heart! I just love the way my shoes look, all lined up and ready to be worn, come on warm weather, melt the snow so I can start wearing cute shoes instead of cute winter boots! I also was able to get my flip flops under control. I have to say that they are a staple of my warm weather wardrobe and I just adore flip flops. They are now neatly organized in one of the Ikea hanging organizers.

After my shoes, I took stock of my purses and accessories. I did something that I never thought I would do. I removed all of my classic/vintage Coach bags from their boxes and stored them all in one clear tote. Jay has been joking (at least he better be) that he is going to start selling them on eBay...I am sure he could make a pretty penny but we are not going to find out. He said that the clear tote would make it that much easier for him to get to them. Don't worry Dearest Jay, I know how they are arranged and even have taken pictures of them for "inventory" purposes so just remove the eBay idea from your mind! I amassed such a collection from working at Coach throughout college and am still in love with the brand. I do not think that I can or ever will part with them. Every so often I break one out and use it. As for the reminder of my bags that I use on a season to season basis, I organized them by brand/season on the top shelves of the closet. All of my "small leather goods" were also organized, with the help of Arabella, and are neatly in a basket. It is a good thing that she cannot reach that top shelf or I would be in trouble, she had a hard time letting me put them away. She was having too much fun and just wanted to play with all of the purses and bags. She even learned a few new words along the way. She can say "purse" and will pick one up and say "bye, bye" as she walks away, it is too cute. I think Jay and I are going to be in trouble when she gets older, at least she and I can share accessories! Thank you Arabella for helping Mommy go through her clothes, shoes and fun stuff - you were such a big help!

In the end, the process took more time than I wanted it to, but the end result is perfect. I love how everything is organized, with the exception of my suits and wedding dress, all of my (hanging) clothes are in "my" closet! I also like that I was able to make some room for some new fashion finds!

And After:

Thanks Uncle Mike

One thing that we are still adjusting to here is how long it takes to send and receive mail to and from the States. There is also a whole process for filling out customs paperwork for an envelope larger than a letter sized envelope. And if it is a box, forget it. You are also limited to mailing options as well.

Anyway, I digress, the reason for this post is to THANK Uncle Mike for our Valentine's Day cards that we received in the mail today! Arabella gets to excited when she receives mail and today after opening and reading her card, she asked for "more, more". So she had to help me open my card and then she didn't want to share it with me!

Thank you Uncle Mike, we miss you and love you!