A quick update.........

Here are a few photos from a lovely night we had at our next door neighbours on saturday night for dinner. I had my first glass of wine in a very very long time! We all had a great time. The boys were both great - Essie slept in the porta cot and Tuck watched TV and then fell asleep on the couch!

My eating has been awesome - it is always an area I have struggled with previously. I felt like I had no self control. Now it seems the opposite - I have lots of self control and don't feel tempted to eat wrong foods. I have now lost a total of 20kg since Essie was born just under 6 months ago, and 6 of those Kg have been just recently. Without going shopping I have a whole new wardrobe - I am fitting in all of my smaller gear.

Training is great too - my fitness levels are increasing all the time. YAY!!! Essie loves to go to creche at the gym, so this makes leaving him for an hour or so, so much easier. I think training would be even harder if I knew he was not settled.

Tucker is at school today, Essie is sound asleep in bed, cardio done and dusted, resistance training finished for the day............ unfortunately that means it is time to hit my list of things I want to get done. #1 on the list is clean out the fridge.........

I am thinking of Nicole and her husband today as they welcome their little bundle into the world. xxx

I'm on Fire!

Hi all,

sorry for the absence in posting but I have been busy......

Training

Prepping meals

Looking after Essington

Getting Tucker to and from orientation period at school

Going to the beach

etc etc

I am so proud to say that I have lost 4kg in 3 weeks! How have I done it you may ask! Well I have done a moderate amount of exercise but most importantly my nutrition has been so clean! I have had so much self control and have dropped bad habits! I have implemented the new habits now for approx 3 weeks without failure and it feels awesome! I am loving just looking after me at the gym rather than looking after everyone else and then not having anything in the tank for when it came time for my workout. I am doing exercise every day - some days more intense than others. In a couple of weeks I am going to take some measurements and photos!

Tucker is enjoying Pre Primary - it is a huge adjustment and I think there are some nerves hanging around as well. He loves to ride his scooter - so we have been walking to school every morning this week - he scooters along, I push Essie in the pram and we chat about anything and everything along the way - it makes for a very relaxing start to his day. Essie and I love it too. Once we have walked home Essie usually has a little sleep in his cot and then we head out and about. It means I actually have some more time at home too - which I love!

Essie is now 5 months old and doing pretty well - we have had a few problems with his bowel but we are hoping it will sort it self out soon - we are off to the specialist for a check at the end of the month. He loves to roll, babbles a lot to his brother and smiles at everyone he meets!

On sunday after an early lunch we loaded up the sun tent, towels, buckets, spades etc and headed out to a beautiful spot called Honeymoon Cove at Point Samson. Tucker had a ball on his wiggles boogie board, Essie floated around in his swim seat and Mike and I enjoyed the company of great friends. I will load some pics soon.

Essie is asleep, the cleaners have just left and its lunch time so I am about to cook myself some lunch before it is time for school pick up in an hour and a half.

Hope everyone is doing great.

xxx

Clean eating and a new training program

Hi everyone!

I am just 4 days into a new training program and eating plan and I am shocked at the amount of self control I am showing. I have not had the amount of self control I have right now in a long time and I am enjoying the benefits already.

I am happy to admit that when things get what my mind considers tough the first thing I turn to is sugar and diet soft drinks! I know you may well say it could be a lot worse but to me this was also not so great. After the challenges of last year my mind was seeing lots of challenges that resulted in the over consumption of sugar! I decided that it was becoming a habit and that habit HAD to stop!

After celebrating my birthday on Monday I have taken a new lease on life and decided that if I want to be here for the long run that things needed to change and change they would! I took a drastic approach and went cold turkey on the sugar and increased the amount of healthy fruit and vegetables, lean proteins and sensible carbs.

Yesterday I had a niggling headache off and on all day - I suspect this was from my body wanting the sugar! Today it is fine.

I know there will be times where I will have sugar again but for now I am going to enjoy the benefits of no sugar and a clean eating plan. I am actually really excited.

I have not made the change for weight loss but with the clean eating and a good training program my weight will reduce which is an added benefit. After only one day my weight had already dropped by half a kilo! YAY!!!!!

In conjunction with the new eating I have also started a new training program. Today was a spin class for 45 mins! I challenged myself and came out feeling exhausted!

I will keep you updated with my progress! xxx

Happy New Year!

Happy new year everyone. Yes I know it has been a long time between posts!!!!

The last time i posted something here on my blog was before Christmas.

Christmas 2009 for me was a difficult time for me - half of me was excited and thankful for everything that I am blessed with, and the other half was of very mixed emotions - sadness, anger etc in relation to the first christmas without my dad.

Not a day goes by where I do not think of him - sometimes to the point where I can not clear some of those last few hours with him from my mind! I feel so much for my dear Mum - she has lost her sole mate! I worry about her and find it hard not to take on her emotions when we talk on the phone. I love her so so much! I am so grateful to my dear husband, and thank god for my health and my two beautiful children every day.

Since 1st January 2009 I have now been at home for the longest time - last year I was travelling approx every 4 weeks! Combine this with a challenging pregnancy and the loss of dad it made for an interesting time. It has been so nice to not have to step on a plane!

I am loving the school holidays with Tucker - we have been doing painting and craft at home, going to the shops, having lunch and snacks at the coffee shops, lots of swimming and lots of reading!

Essie is growing up so much - he is still quite petite so we have nicknamed him Mr Small! he shares lots of beautiful smiles, rolls over and loves tummy time. He is also loving the fact that he can reach out and grab hold of things and give them a shake - with often a noise of some sort coming from one toy or another. He is actually a little sick at the moment - he is having tests on his bowel - we are hoping it is nothing too major!

I have returned to my training at the gym this week. The creche just reopened for the year on Monday and I have had two good workouts.

I have included a couple of photos of the boys from Christmas Eve. xxx

After Christmas I will.......

After Christmas I will ............. be making this quilt (from The Janelle Wind Collection)while I enjoy some quality time at home in the school holidays with my two beautiful boys. I am going to make the most of lots of home time with Tuck before he starts full time school next year. So far we have had a week of mostly been at home and he is loving it! We do things together and then he will be happy to go off and play with his lego, read a book, paint, ride his bike..... the list is endless while I do something for myself - like sew!

Hand made presents.......

Some more of my Christmas present creations!

Christmas time 2009!

Hi all,

let me take this opportunity to wish each and everyone who reads this blog a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2009 has been a very interesting year for me - plenty of joy and success, but also a great deal of sadness with the death of my very dear dad. I have to be very honest right now - I am finding this time very very challenging - my mind is constantly running overtime and I am struggling with many thoughts and images which a very hard to clear from my mind.

Christmas day is going to be a nice quiet family day spent with my dear husband and two beautiful sons, with my beautiful dad not too far from my mind. I will talk to all my family at least once on Christmas Day. We are going to join some dear friends for some celebrations on Boxing Day.

I thought I would share with you some things I have been making for Christmas presents.......

........ a shirt for Essington - I sewed the name and the car on!
....... a top for friend of Tucker's (this one was actually a birthday present for a party we went to last weekend......
....... and another Christmas present. I have had a little help and got the idea from my friend Jo. She is amazing with fabric and card making, plus many other super skills too. You can check out her blog here.

In between typing this post I have just had a call from a very special friend who moved from Karratha to Broome in August. She called to say that on the 28th December she is going to come down and stay with us for a few days. We are very excited to see them. Their son and Tucker are very good friends, and they have not had the chance to meet Essington yet!

I had better go and get some more organising done. x