Mixed Bag Of Rant

So I finally mustered up an extra minute to tell you all about a fabulously exhausting wedding weekend!

The wedding of my sister-in-law began like many wedding weekends. With nails, toes and run, run, RUNNING around with last minute business. We got ourselves beautied up and headed to rehearsal where we learned just how much our feet were going to be pissed off when things were all said and done. We went to dinner where I got to reunite with my husband and son. Can I just interject that I loved the sound of “It’s Mommy!!!” from across the parking lot?

After a late night, we headed back to the hotel to sleeping arrangement uncertainty. We haven’t traveled with Jackson since he was 10 months old and we’ll just say… It was a tough weekend and we weren’t sure what to expect. Miraculously, he slept on his little toddler air bed all night long without any issues. Too bad I couldn’t do the same.

The day of the wedding started with the usual trip to the salon for hair, makeup, coffee and of course making sure that the bride was happy and beautiful. And she was.

As for me… I opted for more of a half up do (and of course wished I had gone ALL up).

Pre-Wedding

Before we knew it, the time came to get dressed and wouldn’t you know it… my dress really was too big. Sure, it stayed up, but I was self-conscious about it the whole time wishing I had some magical access to some giant safety pins to hold this thing up. After a couple hours of pictures, the time had come to make the walk. I thankfully didn’t fall. I got choked up but didn’t cry (with two bouquets to hold, I didn’t have access to the kleenex secretly tucked away). My train didn’t get stepped on. My dress didn’t fall off.

Let the party begin!

Me & The Bride Cruising In The Limo

The Bridal Party. Can you even believe the bride is 28 weeks pregnant??

Me & A Couple Groomsman

Me & The Groom

My Little Man Dancing w/ the bride. He wanted to dance with her all night.

My Guys

My little monkey danced like this for at LEAST two hours… He was the life of the party!!

It was a fabulous weekend filled with so much love and family. Selfishly, I feel blessed to have been a part of it all. I had the chance to stand up for a person who I consider not just a friend, but after a long haul, a sister. I got the chance to spend time and really get to know the women on my husband’s side of the family. I got to see my little boy act like a big boy and have so much fun. I loved everything about it.

No lie, being a bridesmaid is hard. It costs a lot of money. You are put on display to the world. However, despite all of those things, there is a little magic. Being chosen to stand up for someone is a big deal. You’ll be in their pictures for an eternity. You’re a part of someone’s most important day. It’s not a role to be taken lightly. I am still the best of friends with all of my bridesmaids and I’ll never forget all they had to sacrifice in order to be a part of our wedding day and what a special part of my heart they continue to hold.

It took a couple days to recover from all the lack of sleep (hotels and I do not go together). I literally cried when I drove up to my house as I was so happy to just be home and able to sleep in my own bed again. I officially ended my bridesmaid era by going from this:

To THIS:

No more bridesmaid duties means no more desire to have long hair! I’m so excited to have my shorter hair back. It has been many moons since my hair was this short. I love it and importantly, my husband LOVES it.

I do have one more important wedding coming up this summer as my close friend gets married to her love. She opted for a small bridal party and asked me to be her personal attendant. I excitedly said yes and know how important this role is. I’m already making a list and checking it twice for all the things I’m going to need to have ready… we’ll save that post for another day!

Cheers!

Well friends, the time is here.

One of the main reasons for my weight loss motivation is the wedding I am in this weekend. While I am not at the weight I thought I would be at this point, I am still pretty proud of how far I’ve come. My dress alterations cost me a pretty $120 to take in all that glorious fabric and it is still even a little big. I have a feeling I will need to get creative with some safety pins. My husband joked that I will need to stuff my bra. I can honestly say, that is the first time in my life that has EVER been recommended to me.

Here is my dress:

I have had a rough go of staying on track lately and my 3 lb weight gain over the past couple weeks is a huge wake up call- it is exactly the motivation infusion I needed and a pretty firm reminder that my efforts are not short-term. When I quit, I gain. Period. I have to remind myself that I didn’t decide to lose weight just for a wedding or just to wear shorts this summer. I want to be able to enjoy this for all the wonderful events I will be involved in for many years to come.

I am the excuse queen, so stepping on the scale I had a few different zingers that I thought would suffice to explain my recent weight gain. The truth is, there is no excuse. I made the choices. I cheated. I justified it in my head. Yes, birth control pills are doing a number on me both physically and psychologically, but it is not an excuse. I know I can do better than this.

As of this morning, no more excuses. I have already logged my points for the day. I am already planning to get some exercise tonight regardless of how much packing there is to do to get myself and a 2.5 year old ready for a long weekend (which is a whole other post in and of itself).

I was thinking for awhile that I wanted terribly to skip my WeightWatchers weigh in and meeting today knowing that I am facing a significant gain this week, but I know that is the exact type of excuse that I would make to hide from my own truth. So, I will go and face facts. I will dust myself off and get back on the wagon. I WILL make it through this wedding weekend making smart choices about food instead of making it an excuse to be a cheater.

I will reach my goal weight.

I will be back to the Rant next week with many wedding pictures! I hope you have a beautiful and healthy weekend.

Ahhhhhh Friday. Hello. I needed you and you didn’t disappoint by showing up.

Let’s kick off the weekend with a little Week in Rant, shall we?

IN THE NEWS
I know the new big mommy thing in the news this week are the new recommendations from the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) regarding car seats. For those of you living in a bubble, here they are:

• The “rear-facing until two” is a guideline only. Young children who are very small, or born prematurely, may need to stay rear facing longer–until they outgrow the weight and height limits for the rear-facing carseat. And, kids who are big may outgrow the size limitations younger than age two and may need to be turned forward-facing earlier.
• Once a child outgrows the size limits of rear-facing, he should be forward-facing in a harness carseat until he outgrows that seat.
• You can check your carseat’s size limitations on the label or in the instruction manual. In general, convertible carseats are safe for rear-facing until a child weighs 35—45 lbs. Height limitations vary as well.
• Kids need to remain in booster seats until at least EIGHT years of age, or when they exceed the size limits for a booster and they are ready for a seat belt.
• Kids should not be riding in the front seat of a vehicle until they are at least 13 years old.

Are you ready for my opinion (you know I have one). These are RECOMMENDATIONS only. Not the law. We parents have to make a lot of decisions and usually look to the AAP as a guideline for making what we think is the correct one. Of course, in all my sarcastic glory, if you don’t follow these guidelines you are likely to be chewed up and spit out in disgust by the perfect mom community out there (you know who those people are… the ones who give you the stink eye in a store or restaurant when your child is acting out). As always, my advice is: do what you feel is best for your situation. I considered leaving Jack rear-facing until he was 2; however, he outgrew those limitations fairly quickly and we turned him around at a year in my husband’s vehicle and around a year and a half in my car. I don’t feel I need to justify our decision to anyone. I intend to keep him boostered until he exceeds the size limit and he will definitely not ride up front until he is 13. But, you know how it goes… he is two and a half right now. I’m sure my opinion (and the AAP’s opinion) will change a million times before then. Final thoughts on this subject? Settle the heck down folks. The cops aren’t going to pull you over if you turn your kid’s seat around before the age of 2. 


GUILTY PLEASURE NEWS
I have made it no secret over my blogging years that I watch and love American Idol. The last few years have been a yawn though and seriously considered scrapping the sheer amount of time required to stay committed to the show until I realized how much I liked the new season. I LOVE J-Lo. I don’t know why, but I love her. She’s pretty to look at and she usually has decent, constructive criticism to offer. Don’t care for Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson just kinda fades into the background. I like the changes they made to the show letting the viewers get to know the contestants a little more and showing behind-the-scenes stuff. As far as the contestants, there are the usual few who for some reason are insanely popular yet I can’t stand their voice (ahem… Jacob Lusk). Last night’s episode was one of the best in a long time. Especially after they saved Casey Abrams and dude kept throwing down the F bombs. I always thought Idol would be so much better with more swearing. 

HEALTHY ME JOURNEY NEWS

While my weight loss seems to have slowed a little (11.5 pounds gone over 12 weeks), I am losing at a rate of about .5 – 1 pound a week. I HATE that it is a slow process for me but at the same time, I know that this is a healthy, long term way to keep it off. However at this rate, my goal of losing 60 pounds seems insurmountable. I am still following the WeightWatchers program to the letter and am trying to make myself into a runner, which is kind of laughable but I am determined. I started Couch to 5K (thanks to the iPhone app, it makes it pretty easy to follow) and hope that it will be a slow and steady way to get me into it. I plan to do it first on treadmill and then, God willing, it will actually be warm enough for me to do the program outdoors (because yes, I am fully aware that running on pavement is completely different than a treadmill). My bridesmaid dress fitting is less than a week away and I am actually looking forward to it. I know that I have taken inches off my bod and it WILL need to be taken in. That was the first of many goals in this journey and I’m not going to lie: IT FEELS GOOD!!! 

Thought I would show a couple pictures to highlight my progress. The top one is from early December 2010 (a month before I re-joined WeightWatchers for the eleventy-billionth time- I’m on the right). The bottom pic is from 2 weeks ago (again.. me on the right). My face has trimmed out- that is after only 11 lbs! I’m so excited to see pictures after I have made it to goal. Heck. I’m excited that I want pictures of me taken at all.


 
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Have a beautiful weekend!!

It’s Friday! Time for The Week In Rant!  

1. Favre Wants to Play
2. Wedding Stress
3. You Won’t Let Your Daughter Play With What?

1. FAVRE WANTS TO PLAY
Remember when you were a little kid and you got hurt or sick but you begged and pleaded with your mom and dad to let you out to play anyway? That’s what Brett Favre reminds me of. A silly little kid who is throwing a tantrum and refusing to sit it out and just heal. I know that T-Jack as a backup isn’t the greatest idea in the world, but do we want a broken Favre on the field either?

Do you think Favre should sit this one out?  Do you wish Favre would just go away altogether?

2. WEDDING STRESS
My brother’s wedding is 8 days away. The stress is mounting. My husband and I are bickering. There is no way on God’s green earth that my 2 year old is going to actually stand still to have his picture taken (despite how uber debonair he will look in his little tuxedo), or get down the aisle for that matter. My first, last and ONLY rehearsal with the pianist is tomorrow. I feel ready, but am nervous- it has been years since I sang in front of a live (and BIG) audience like this (no, drunken karaoke doesn’t count). So, I showed up to work today, took a deep breath and decided not to sweat the small stuff. It’s not my day. It’s my brother’s. Despite the lack of communication and coordination of the wedding party logistics (which has really been driving a type-A freak like me insane), I am going to suck it up and go with the flow. No more whining. No more complaining. No more thinking this day has anything to do with me. I expected this much and more when I got married 5 years ago. The least I could do is return the favor without any bitching. 

 Do weddings stress you out? How do you overcome it?

3. YOU WON’T LET YOUR DAUGHTER PLAY WITH WHAT?? 
I’ve talked a little bit about my “friend” who had a baby back in January of this year. The more we talk about our kids and how we are choosing to raise them the more I find us on opposite ends of the parenting spectrum. I’ve said a million times- there is no right way and everyone has to make the best choices for themselves from breastfeeding, to childcare (private home vs daycare center) to crying it out (and the list goes on). She made a comment the other day that floored me. She said, “The day I buy my daughter a toy vacuum cleaner or a kitchen set will be a cold day in hell.” I gave her a confused look and said, “Why?” She responded, “I don’t want her to think that those things are a woman’s job.” To which I snorted (yes, I snorted in my own self-righteous mommy moment) and said, “Well, geez. I hope my son doesn’t grow up thinking he’s a girl because he loves to help mommy and daddy by pretending to vacuum, prepare meals and mow the lawn.” I told her that I picked Jack up from school one day and him and his buddies were “cooking hamburgers”. He held up the little plastic hamburger and said, “Want one mommy?” to which I said, “Oh yes! Delicious Jackson!” Her daughter isn’t even 1 yet and she’s worrying about gender roles. Perhaps she should consider buying her something other than the color pink to wear then.

Do you have any toys that you refuse to let your children play with (other than the ones that are clearly inappropriate for their age)?

Have a fantastic (albeit chilly) weekend- bundle those little ones up! Happy Halloween!