Father's Day 2012

Charles Dean. I love this man...

He is the man on my dreams! Literally!

From the first moment I met him, I knew he was a great person. A kind, caring, compassionate, and thoughtful man. I fell in love fast!

He was the man that took me to the temple to be married and sealed together for time and all eternity. I needed a man who was steadfast in the gospel and could help me in my journey. Charles has never pulled me along or pushed me from behind... he has stood by my side and held my hand. Loving me. Supporting me.

From the moment we found out that we were going to be parents, I was thrilled to have such a wonderful man to be the Father of my children. When we found out we were having a baby girl, I knew that my little girl would be Daddy's girl! And from the moment Caitlin entered the world (5 weeks early), she has had her Daddy wrapped around her finger!

The first few months of her life, Charles proved to me that he was a natural father! He helped me out so much, rocked Caity to sleep when I was beyond exhausted, and always helped me with her. When we found out that we would be welcoming another baby girl into our family, I was beyond thrilled to have two Daddy's Little Girls! And when Rosalie entered the world, she had an instant bond with her Daddy!

Charles was a fantastic father of two! He had a harder time adjusting to having two babies (we both did...), but he did it with such grace and love. We both took turns letting the other get extra sleep and having one-on-one time with each girl. Both girls just loved their Daddy! And you could tell that in an instant!

When we found out that we would be welcoming our third daughter into our family, we were beyond ecstatic! ANOTHER Daddy's Girl! We didn't have a lot to prepare for, having two other little ladies at home, so the pregnancy was quite enjoyable for us both!

By the time Vivian entered the world, she has been attached to her Daddy! He is the one she wants to rock her to sleep, to sing to her, and to give her cuddles when he gets home from work.

Even though Vivian is only 8 months old, I had the girls make Charles a book for Father's Day this year that showed him how much they love their Daddy. Caitlin and Rosalie were the artists, Vivian offered some slobber and sneezes! But it was a wonderful gift for the Father of my daughters.

I thank God each and everyday for Charles. He is the one for me. I am so blessed that he chose me. He has given me three beautiful daughters and I am excited to see what our future son(s) look like! When the timing is right, of course! Having a baby is not in the plans as of yet, but that's another reason why I love my husband so much. He is so in tune with the Spirit. He always knows when the timing is right to talk about that sort of thing. Although our youngest two daughters were planned for, they just came unexpectedly early!

He is the best Father for my children. The love that radiates off of our children when he walks in the door is almost blinding. And if he's had a bad day, he puts everything aside and is excited to see our girls and greets them with kisses and hugs.

Happy Father's day to the man who still gives me butterflies and makes me weak at the knees.

I word you, Charles Dean! Come what may!

Carie's Weight Loss Journey - Week 2

I have inspired so many people already! It truly is an amazing thing! I am deeply humbled and touched by the many people who have started their own weight loss journey. I wish you all the best! Good, good luck!

I haven't done as much this week as I did last week, but we've had a lot going on within our family and it has taken up quite a bit of our time. Things have been extremely difficult, and I will not go into detail for privacy reasons, I do ask for your prayers. For me and for my side of the family.

I have attended each Zumba class since June started. I am very proud of myself! I have worked around what we have going on, grocery shopping, and breastfeeding to be able to go to Zumba. I have even recruited a friend to attend the classes with me! And she LOVES it! Zumba isn't for everyone, but she really enjoys the workout and it makes me happy to know that she is now in control of her weight loss journey!

Monday, June 11th - I walked to Zumba with Jamie, had an amazing workout (my sweat cried pretty hard!), and I jogged home. I had to stop, but I continued to jog the whole way!

Tuesday, June 12th - I went for a walk in the evening to work out some things in my head and pray. It was very nice and I needed it. I generally left all my baggage with the Lord and said, "Thy will be done!"

Wednesday, June 13th - I walked to and from Zumba with Jamie. We worked our tails off and had a lot of fun!

Thursday, June 14th - I went on an evening walk with Karmen and talked about my family issues. It was nice to get an "ousiders" view of everything. We also discussed recipes, friends, and that we need to hang out more often!

Friday, June 15th - I walked to Zumba with Jamie and met Colleen and Karmen there! It was awesome to have so many people I know there! We were all working hard and it has been paying off! I feel stronger, I'm sweating more, and I'm feeling great!

Here are my week by week progress photos! Start - Week 1 - Week 2

Here are my Start to Week 2 progression photos!

Start Weight: 202 lbs

Week 1 Weight: 193 lbs

Week 2 Weight: 190 lbs

Weight Lost since last week: 3 lbs

Total Weight Lost: 12 lbs

Weight To Go: 55 lbs

I have decided to start the Couch to 5K workouts. Not only to help lose weight, but so that I can start running again. I never thought that it'd be so difficult to start over. Running came to easliy to me growing up, and now it's something that I need to work on!

All I think of when I think of myself starting to run again is this:

See you next week!

It's almost Summer!

Even though it isn't quite Summer yet, the weather has been hot for the Spring. I know that Iowa weather is famous for changing so much, but it has been giving me whiplash! Seems like I'm alternating the extra clothes in the diaper bag every other day from long sleeves and pants to short sleeves and shorts! Even deciding what type of pajamas the girls wear to bed is becoming a chore! But I know that Summer is coming fast and I soon won't have to worry about changing this around anymore! (THANK GOODNESS!)

Caitlin and Rosalie have enjoyed the reward system for using the potty. Yes, you read that right, Caitlin AND Rosalie! Although Rosalie hasn't actually gone on the potty, she will sit and pretend. I think she'll be ready in no time! I reward Caity with a Dum-Dum sucker usually, but I was out of them and only had Ring-Pops. Needless to say, I think the girls really enjoyed their reward that day!

One of the colder mornings, it was raining and the girls asked to go outside. I told them no and they were very upset. So I decided to set up Rosalie's new Disney Princess Kitchen set. It was very, very hard for them to wait, but luckily the set-up was very simple and fast. It took me about 20 minutes to set it up, and they played and played for HOURS! Vivian even joined in!

Vivian Rane turned 8 months on June 6th! It is seriously hard to believe! I think I'm in denial! And although we know that she is not our last child, it is still a little bittersweet to see her growing up so fast! She is officially crawling and talking now! She can almost clap her hands and she will wave bye-bye! She is eating food on her own and gets VERY upset if we try to help her.

Happy 8 Months, Miss Independent, my Vivian Rane!

I am not sure if I am going to be watching Colleen's kids anymore, and it makes me a little sad. Our girls have grown quite fond of Savannah and Hunter! Yes, they fight, but only about 5% of the time. Caitlin will ask, "Is my best friend on the couch?" when she wakes up. And it saddens me when I have to say, not today. Now that Colleen is back to work, her regular babysitter will take back over.

We had the kids two days in a row. The first day Charles and I walked the kids over to his Mother's house for a picnic lunch. The kids had a blast playing on the trampoline and running around the yard. But silly me, I forgot my camera!

The next day, Charles was back to work so we hung out in the house. In the morning when I'm handing out Caitlin and Rosalie's Milk and Savannah and Hunter's juice, the kids will all sit on the big Dora puzzle mat and drink their milk/juice quietly. They all FINALLY sat still enough for me to snap a photo! And right after, Rosalie got up, picked her Dora hat up, and started being cute. So of course, I had to snap a photo of her!

I have been working out the past week and the girls love to tag along with me and do jumping jacks, sit ups (kind of), and go on walks with me. They will chant, "Go Mommy, Go!" And it makes me feel like a million dollars! With Charles and I eating healthier, the girls are eating healthier, too. They have more energy, although they already had enough to begin with! But it is wonderful to see them pretending and imagining all sorts of things throughout the day. They never cease to amaze me. And I don't think that is going to change anytime soon!

Carie's Weight Loss Journey - Week 1

I can't even count how many Facebook messages, emails, and phone calls I've received in the past week. 90% of them were people telling me that I can do this, and the other 10% were people who want to join in on my journey. Each message was filled with encouragement, support, and love.

I was literally overwhelmed.

Because of that, I have decided to start sharing some recipes and my workouts on here for those who are looking to cut calories and exercise more.

I am using My Fitness Pal to keep track of everything that I eat, drink, and what I do when I work out.

We have been eating more fresh fruits and veggies. If a recipe calls for 1 lb of meat, we only use 1/2. I don't have any new recipes this week, but I have some that I will post next week.

June 1st through June 3rd - Apparently going "cold turkey" from sugar is NOT the way to go! My body had some serious issues with me dropping sugar 100%. I had a migraine from hell and I couldn't even move. After I realized what was going on, I did some searching on the interwebs and found a healthy way to kick sugar cravings while letting your body slowly adjust.

My sugar cravings are GONE! It only took about 5 days! And it has helped me to cut SO many calories! A tablespoon of the peanut butter/chocolate mixture is about 100 calories. As soon as I started eating the mixture, my migraine disappeared almost instantly. NEVER go cold turkey! Wean yourself from pop, sugar, etc.

Starting June 4th, I was finally able to function! I started my day off with the 100 Workout I found on Pinterest. I did everything except the 10 minute run, I saved that for later when I ran jogged to the gym.

I attended a ZUMBA class that night. I haven't been in a while, and I could tell! I was super tired, but by the second half, I got an energy boost and kept going! I even jogged home! I had to stop twice because Zumba about killed me, but I jogged the whole way!

June 5th I did the 100 Workout again in the morning before my girls woke up. I wasn't as fast with it because I was so sore, but I did finish the workout before my girls woke up! Later that afternoon, I went on a 6+ mile walk with my friend Desiree. I was slow and I kept getting out of breath, but I told myself I could do it and I felt myself getting stronger!

June 6th I was babysitting two extra kiddos so I didn't do the 100 Workout, but my husband was home. We decided to walk (all 5 kids) to his Mom's house for a picnic lunch with the family. I was pushing a double stroller with Caitlin (35+ lbs) and Savannah (28+) lbs, while Charles pushed the double jogger with Rosalie (26+ lbs) and Hunter (20+ lbs) and carried Vivian (19+ lbs) in the Snuggli on his chest. The hills about killed us, but we pushed through and by the time we got to Mom's house, we were ready to collapse! We got a ride home! I attened Zumba later that evening! I was super tired and I was sweating up a storm, but you know what they say!

June 7th I didn't do the 100 Workout again because I was babysitting. I didn't do anything the entire morning/afternoon because I was so tired. But after supper, Charles and I took the girls for a walk. We walked 4+ miles. I pushed Rosalie and Caitlin in the double stroller while Charles pushed Vivian in an umbrella stroller so that he could do some of the Frisbee golf holes (I think that's what you call them?!). I wore a pair of shorts that made my thighs rub together while I was walking, and when we were almost home, my inner thighs hurt really bad. Some of the thoughts that were going through my head consisted of these:

"We're almost home!"

"How did I let myself get this bad?"

"Why did I let myself go?"

"It doesn't matter... it hurts now, but in a little while, it won't anymore."

"I really want to cry about this... but I'm stronger than that."

"I can do this."

My emotions were all over the place when we got home. I had to strip down because I was so sweaty, but also because anything touching my inner thighs was torture. But I didn't cry. I kept telling myself this:

There is a reason I am out walking... I don't want my thighs to rub together when I walk. I can just see myself walking up a hill with strength and courage.

I also realized something when we were out walking and I was hurting, I miss Cross Country and Track. I was in the distance group and I trained all year round. I wasn't the fastest by any stretch, but I was a strong runner. A STRONG RUNNER. I can't even jog a block without having to stop. Yes, I've had 3 kids and my body is different. I know this. But it still is an eye opener. One of my goals is to run the DAM to DAM in Des Moines next year. 12 miles without stopping. I can do this!

June 8th (today) I walked with all three girls to the park down the street. Caitlin was sitting on my shoulders. Talk about a workout! I rested while the girls ran around and by the time we headed back home, the heat wasn't helping at all! But I made it home! I went to Zumba tonight and through my sore muscles and achy legs, I kept telling myself this:

I decided to have my husband take some photos of me at Week 1. I have been cutting calories for the past week, but I've only been working out for the past 5 days. This is how my body has changed!

Start Weight:  202 lbs

Week 1 Weight: 193 lbs

Weight Lost:  9 lbs

Weight To Go:  58 lbs

One week can make a difference!

You can do this!

WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER!

Carie's "Before" Photos

This is tough.

Really tough.

I've spent the better part of the last 5+ years crying over how I look.

I use to look like this at the end of High School...

Granted, I was 17/18 and I had been in Cross Country/Track for four consecutive years. And in a lot of other physically demanding activities like Cheerleading, Show Choir, etc. I thought I was fat then...

I was wrong.

When I entered college, my weight fluctuated a lot.

I'd get into this habit:

Then I'd work out like crazy and cut way too many calories to get "skinny" again.

I was never truly happy with how I looked. I would think I was too big, then I'd think that I was "skinny enough" and start eating like crazy. It was vicious cycle.

When I married my husband in August of 2007, I had lost some weight from my job and exercising for the wedding. But as soon as we were married, I quickly put the weight back on.

On our first year anniversary, we found out that we would be expecting a baby that coming April. We were ecstatic! How did we celebrate?

Food.

I ballooned fast.

After Caitlin was born, I stayed out of photos as much as possible. I tried to lose weight, but I found out that I was pregnant again. I stopped dieting and by the time Rosalie was born, I weighed 220 lbs.

My heaviest.

Ever.

At my 5 year class reunion (which I almost didn't attend because of my weight...)

I decided it was time for a change. I started going to Zumba and I dropped 20 lbs fast. So fast that it only took me 8 weeks!

I was 8 weeks pregnant.

I had to stop working out because I had started bleeding with my baby at 16 weeks.

After Vivian was born, I had lost weight and dropped down to 185 lbs. I felt amazing! I was in a size 16 for the first time since BEFORE Caitlin was born!

It was going to be Winter soon, so I didn't work out as much. I'd attend Zumba every so often, but nothing that was producing any results.

Now that things are settling down with my three little ones, I've decided that enough is enough.

This weight gain journey has to stop.

I took my final "Before" photos on May 31st.

What I saw was shocking to me.

Who is this 202 lb person?

This person is not me.

And for the first time ever, I didn't cry.

I decided that I would take action instead.

June 1st marked the first day of the rest of my weight loss journeys.

This one will be my last.

I am changing my lifestyle. My exercise lifestyle. My eating lifestyle.

I want to be happy again. I want to LOVE myself again. I haven't loved myself in a long time. I'm unhappy and people can tell. I want to be healthy for my children and husband. I want to inspire my family. I want to inspire you.

I am going to need support and help. If you want to join in on your own weight loss journey, PLEASE DO! I am going to be keeping tabs on my progress as my journey progresses. My target weight is 135 lbs.

I need to lose 67 lbs.

No day but TODAY!

Memorial Day 2012

Memorial Day this year was a blast for our whole family! Charles got a call from our friend, Mike, to go Frisbee golfing that morning. I stayed home with our girls because Rosalie wasn't awake when Charles had left.

By the time Charles got home, we still hadn't eaten breakfast, so Mike asked if we wanted to go out to eat for breakfast. Of course! While I packed the diaper bag, Caitlin had some fun trying on Mike's motorcycle helmet! Rosalie didn't want to, so I snapped some photos of Caity in the helmet!

By the time we got there, it was almost noon, so we went ahead and ordered breakfast! Mike's wife, Karmen, got off work at noon and joined us at the restaurant. We saw a lot of people we knew and had some time to chat and catch up. We soon headed home for the girls' nap time. 

Vivian was awake for nap time so I fed her lunch and let her roam around the house without her big sisters in her way! Caitlin and Rosalie usually pull her around by her feet or try to sit on top of her, so she really had a great time army crawling/scooting around our living room!

When the girls got up from nap time, it was time to head over to Grandma's house for a wienie roast and birthday celebration. There was going to be a pool set up for the kiddos to play in, and once I told the girls, they were beside themselves! It took me no time to get them into their swim suits and head out the door!

As soon as we pulled in and let the girls out, they sprinted down the yard to the pool!

It took us a while to get the girls out of the pool and get them to eat their supper! But they eventually gave up the fight and let us dry them off and put normal clothes on. We roasted hot dogs and had potato salad, kidney bean salad, watermelon, and finished it all off with a cookie cake for Shelly's 16th birthday! 

After all was said and done, we let the girls swing in the tire swing in the backyard while Charles and I took turns loading up the car. 

When we got home, the girls fell into bed and kept saying, "Tomorrow we go swim at Grandma's!"

I set up our own pool the next day, but it was too cold to let the girls enjoy it. Hopefully it will start warming up again and they can enjoy their own pool! 

May, Where Have You Gone?!

Yeah... I know... It's been a while! The excuses are normal! We've been busy, as usual! I always say that I'm going to be better about posting... but now I'm going to say, "I will TRY to be better about posting more often so that you don't have to read a super long post!" There! That'll do!

On April 28th, Caitlin was invited to a Princess Party for a friend from church, Savannah. I've been babysitting her, so Caity and her have gotten really close. It was at a hair salon in town that hosts parties for children and adults. The kids party package had the birthday girl getting her hair curled, and everyone getting their fingernails and toenails painted.  It took Caity a bit to relax, but once she did, she had a lot of fun!

I was thinking that I'd do something like that for my 25th birthday in July! But for grown women, we get a full mani/pedi! I think there are different packages, but I haven't talked to the owner as of yet.

With the warmer weather settling into our region, we have been trying to find healthy ways to keep cool with snacks for the girls. We bought some Edy's Fruit Bars from Walmart and they are GOOD! A little on the expensive side, but well worth the money!

When we eat anything, Vivian wants to eat it, too. Charles was eating a pomegranate flavored fruit bar and decided to let Vivian have a go at it! You can see her reaction:

It was too comical to NOT snap some photos of her eating the fruit bar! Once she got over the first few licks, she went to town on it! Now each time we eat one, she will crawl across the floor to us!

On May 3rd, I had to give Caitlin a bath that morning because she had wet her bed. When I was washing her hair she said, "Mommy, my hair is too long. I want cha to cut it for me!" I said, "Are you sure?" And she just nodded her head and giggled!

As soon as she was out of the bath, I dried her and sat her down to cut her hair before she changed her mind! She didn't hold very still, but I did the best I could! She just LOVED it!

I've still been babysitting Hunter and Savannah, and one perk of having another girl in the house, is dress up time for the girls! We bought the girls a Disney Dress-Up Box and it has three different skirts inside, perfect for Caitlin, Rosalie, and Savannah!

Vivian turned 7 months on May 6th! My little chubber is getting SO BIG! Time has flown by so, so fast! I can hardly believe it! It seriously feels like yesterday that we brought her home! Her newborn photos make her look so big now! She is one happy, healthy baby girl! She is army crawling all around our house! She has even started saying "Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da!" and on a rare occasion, she'll say, "Ma-ma-ma-ma!"

Happy 7 Months, Vivian Rane!

With the warmer weather, I have enjoyed being outside with my girls! Aside from my horrid allergies, when I'm loaded with benadryl, zertec, and claritin, I'm able to be outside for a few hours and enjoy the wonderful weather! The girls have been wanting to eat their meals outside, and on a super nice day, I can't say no!

The girls enjoy having our cats Lilly (grey) and Leo (orange) to accompany us on our lunch dates in the yard! Rosalie enjoys feeding them, even though I've told them repeatedly to NOT feed the cats! She tells me, "Nienie hungie!" Translation, "Lilly hungry!" So I cave, and let her feed the cats... Although I fear I'm breeding a monster!

I had a good day with my allergies, and I decided that I'm not in enough photos with my girls. I'm usually the one behind the camera. And since having my girls back to back, I'm not in the shape I'd like to be in, so I generally hide from the camera. But I'll do photos of my face! (I'm working on the body part!) The girls all cooperated with me!

We celebrated Rosalie's 2nd Birthday on May 18th at our house! We invited a ton of people and had to move the location of her party to our home due to windy weather. But the turn out was fantastic! I made her Ariel Dress Cake and everyone loved it! I've posted about it here, but here are some photos from her big day!

The next day, May 19th, one of my cousins graduated and we headed to her town to watch her walk across the stage! It is a huge day to celebrate and I didn't want to miss it! That, and I don't always get to see my family because of distance. I am very proud of Shianne! She has, and always will amaze me! She's had a rough life, but she's taken everything in strides. Watch out, world! She's a graduate and she's going to achieve her goals!

The girls had a blast at her graduation party! My Uncle has some smaller children, so his backyard had a jackpot of yard toys and cars! The girls sprinted over to them and had so much fun! Vivian got to meet some of my family for the first time! Everyone just loved seeing her! They kept saying that she has "amazing eyes" and that she's "chunky!" Hahaha! She's all muscle!

Charles has enjoyed the weather lately! He's been Frisbee golfing almost every evening as well as grilling out! Anytime I ask him, "What do you want for supper?" His response is generally, "What do we have to grill?" We just LOVE the warmer weather and being outside with our girls!

The girls have had a blast with the Princess Golf set that Rosalie got for her birthday! We also bought the girls some lawn chairs and they bring them (literally) everywhere we go. Walmart, Grandma's, the park... everywhere. It's quite adorable! The bottom photo above is the girls sitting in them! We bought three, one for each girl!

Vivian is getting stronger and stronger each day. I noticed that lately when I hold her, she will kick her legs like crazy. When my sister-in-law was over for a visit, she asked if I had a jumperoo. I thought, "GENIUS!" And since then, Vivian has been a Jumperoo Monster!

Charles and I have been doing great, aside from our allergies! We have decided that June 1st would be the start of our new Clean Eating Lifestyle. It's going to be hard, but we want the long-term benefits of doing so. We've looked into clean eating and having a whole food, plant based diet. Granted, we won't be cancelling out meat completely, but the meat we are going to consume will be carefully purchased.

We hope to not only lose weight, but be healthier and live the word of wisdom. We want to live to see our girls grow up, graduate, get married, and more! But they can just stay little for now! I'm not ready for them to grow up! Not yet!