My Little Girlie!

Lauren's new hair cut!

Lately, I have been noticiing that Lauren is starting to develop her own little personality.  Don't get me wrong, she's always had personality, but now she's starting to talk and act more mature and it's cracking all of us up!  I am here at work on my lunch break, and the thought of her made me smile.  Here are some of the funny things she is up to; hopefully they will make you smile, too!

• She has started wanting to do more "mom" things.  She wants to pretend she's driving our car, she has to have her own grocery cart at the store, and she pretends to talk on her princess cell phone.  We play what she calls "hon" (I call her "honey," so when she plays, she  calls all of the children "honey" or "hon" for short) which is where we role play that she is the mom, and I am "the hon."  We also play "hons," which is where we play with a family of little doll house statues.  She likes to pretend that she is the mom all of the time, and if I dare slip out of character, I am quickly reminded that she is the mom, and I am the hon.  The problem arises when I need to parent her on something and she says, "No, I'm the mom, you're the hon."  It's still cute, though.

• She is starting to get very bossy (I have no idea where she gets it from ;) ) with Ben.  If I tell him to do something, she will reiterate with, "Yeah, Ben!  Mommy said stop!!!"  Then she will taddle on him, "Mommy, he is not listening to you."  This, of course, infuriates Ben who yells, "Lauren, stop talking!!!"  If he uses poor manners, she corrects him.  If he eats all of his food, she will tell him how "good he ate."  It cracks me up! 

• Her new favorite saying is, "It's not a big deal!"  If I get mad and yell, I will hear, "Mommy, it's not a big deal" coming from wherever she is in the house.  When you look at her, she is shrugging her shoulders and putting her hands up in the air.  If you try to retort, she will shake her head and say, "No, it's not a big deal." 

• I got mad at her for spilling water all over the bathroom the other night, and I said, "No more water!"  After hearing that "it wasn't a big deal," she stomped her foot, squinched up her face in the mirror and said, "Mommy! I am not happy right now!" in this nasty little voice.  If she gets mad, she will tell you.  If I am mad, she will ask, "Are you not happy right now?"  

• She is very affectionate, very quick to say how much she loves us almost every day.  Last night at dinner, she said (out of the blue), "Do you know why I love you, Daddy?  'Cause you were nice to me yesterday ("yesterday" refers to any day that isn't today) ." She told me on the way to work this morning that she loves me because I love her.  She loves to give hugs and kisses, and loves to play "massive tickle fest" with Daddy & Ben.

• She looks so forward to our "Mommy/Lauren days" on Fridays.  Mark goes to work, Ben goes to school, and it's just us girls for the day.  Sometimes we clean, sometimes we go to the grocery, sometimes we watch TV and play hons all day, but no matter what, I always have fun!

• She is starting to do impressions of people on TV and people she knows.  It's hysterical!

• She sings along to the radio and loves pop music.  Her favorite song is Teenage Dream by Katie Perry.  She asked me at dinner the other night, "Mommy, what do you think about that song..." and started to sing it.  Of course, she doesn't understand all of the words, so she just makes up nonsense words in their place.  I love it!

99% of the time, Lauren is a joy to be around.  She is very easy to discipline at this point; all I have to do is raise my voice and she will usually stop whatever it is that she is doing.  Most of the time, just threatening to make her sit in time out is all that is required.  I figure I should relish these times now, 'cause I know that the teen years won't be so kind!

God had blessed me so much through my children; I love them both for exactly who they are.  I can't imagine my life without them!

Had Enough!

As I mentioned in my last post, I have really been struggling on my weight loss journey. I was reading over my weight loss entry from November, and I had this sinking feeling as I read it:  Who was that?  I feel so far away from that person right now; I was strong, full of energy, full of optimism.  For the first time in a long time I have taken a long, hard look at who I've become since the end of the weight loss challenge-now that the only grand prize is me getting to goal weight.


I am mentally preparing to get back on track next week and, since this is basically my diary, I thought I would write an honest question & answer segment for myself.  My answers might sound a lot like what you would answer if you asked yourself the same questions.  My hope is that I might encourage someone else out there who reads my blog and is struggling with weight loss to really think about what you are doing to yourself.  


WHAT DO I LIKE SO MUCH ABOUT NOT EXERCISING & EATING UNHEALTHY?

• Not having to plan ahead
• Eating food that tastes good great
• Watching TV all night long
• Getting my way

WHAT DO I HATE ABOUT NOT EXERCISING & EATING UNHEALTHY?

• LOOKING LIKE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!

• Stomach aches/feeling sick
• The way people look at me when I'm eating food they know I shouldn't be eating
• The way I talk to myself/lie to myself/feel helpless
• My clothes getting tighter
• Hiding from all cameras (see above!)
• Feeling lazy
• Feeling guilty 

WHAT DO I MISS ABOUT EXERCISING & EATING HEALTHY?

• ENERGY!
• Confidence
• Time by myself/time to think
• Feeling strong/powerful
• Fitting into smaller sizes-quickly
• Eating food that makes me feel good after I eat it, instead of tired
• Being in control 
• Getting FULL
• Seeing myself in pictures/on video and not cringing
• Feeling muscle where there once was none
• Being a good example to others, especially Ben
• Compliments/people noticing my hard work
• Looking forward with enthusiasm
• Saving money on eating in restaurants
• Not finishing food off the kids' plates
• Jogging/riding my bike outside

It's no surprise that the list of what I enjoy about being healthy outweighs the list of what I enjoy about being unhealthy by A LOT.  Monday will be a new day!  I will get back to the wife and mother I was meant to be, back to the life I want to live.  If you are struggling also, join me!  We can do this together. 

Boring...

Yeah, I know.  It's as if I dropped off the face of the earth.  Honestly, there is just nothing going on right now!  The weather stinks, the kids are healthy, all else is pretty good.  Here are some updates:

1. My weight loss has come to a screeching halt.  I am maintaining about 5lbs heavier than I was at the end of my weight loss challenge.  Apparently, this is what a "plateau" is (yes, I always thought this was a load of crap, until now).  I geared up and got back on track on February 1st-eating like a saint and exercising hard 6 days/week and GAINED 2lbs.  I was livid!  My solution was to eat like a pig and stop exercising altogether-that would show........................me!!!!   Now that I have sabotaged my self-esteem and confidence, I am ready to get back on the wagon.  As frustrated as I am, I have to "keep on keeping on."
2. Mark will be on the Fox 19 Morning Show with Sheila Gray on Monday, March 21st @ 8:00am for an interview about filming The Ides of March.  He is very excited and is hoping to have a preview of his movie Recession Proof to show during the interview.  Hopefully all goes well!
3. Mooky is doing well.  He takes a couple of medications every day and eats a special diet.  His blood work was much improved the last time I checked it!  

Well, we have some fun stuff planned for this weekend so maybe I will have more to write about soon!

Perfectly Soggy Slopes

Our church did a study of the book One Month to Live by Kerry and Chris Shook about a month ago.  One of the most profound things I took from the book was that so much of us make excuses when it comes to important things in life, like spending time with our families or taking risks, because we are waiting for someday to happen. 

Today was the day that I put all of that knowledge into action.

Mark and I took today off so that we could go snow tubing at Perfect North Slopes in Indiana with Ben's Cub Scout pack.  This was planned and paid for over a month ago, and just our luck, it was 46 degrees outside and raining heavily.

All the way there, while driving through the blinding rain, I kept thinking of why it was going to suck.  You might not know this, but Mark and I are not avid skiers.  We've each been skiing twice in our lifetime, and I never got past the bunny hill without completely wiping out.  Snow tubing seemed like a safe alternative, but we really don't have the "attire" that most people who ski have.  For example, we each wore jeans because we don't have waterproof pants.  Mark doesn't even have a winter coat, so he wore his leather jacket (Ben was dressed appropriately in a snow suit, don't worry).  I just kept imagining the 3 of us in the same hospital room with pneumonia and the doctor saying, "What possessed you to go snow tubing in the cold rain - in blue jeans?"  My answer of, "I'm living like I only have 30 days left" probably wouldn't seem logical at that point.  In fact, the doctor might tell me I was living accordingly...

Nevertheless, we pulled into the parking lot and Ben was completely astonished at the sight of the hill and the slopes.  We got our ticket and headed out toward the hill.

Mark and Ben (still dry and warm)

They have an escalator that is basically carpet that you stand on (and balance) to the top of the hill.  It took about 3 minutes to get from the bottom to the top.  Mark enjoyed watching me get on and off the escalator because every time I looked like I was going to wipe out and take out an entire family in the process.

heading to the "carpet escalator"

I made it!  I could even take a picture and balance!

We went to the highest hill first.  We hooked our tubes together and took off!  We had to be going 40mph by the time we hit the bottom.  It was soooo much fun!  It made you almost forget about the rain while you were going down, except for the fact that it was pelting you in the face and you couldn't see where you were going. Besides that, it was awesome!

Me & Benny-it's blurry 'cause of the rain!

Mark & Ben ready to go!

We all had a great time.  We were soaked and chilled to the bone, but we had so much fun just being together.  Ben can drive me completely crazy sometimes, but I always have fun with him when we do things that he enjoys.  It's important to me to spend time with Ben and Lauren by themselves; I want to make sure I can focus on each one of them for a little while each week.  I really want to know them, not just be their guardian.

So, if I only had 30 days to live, I think I would be happy with how I spent today.  It would have been so easy to cancel out of this, but I'm so glad I didn't.  Sometimes it's fun to be miserable when you're with the right people.

Mark's Big Day!

On Wednesday, Mark filmed his scene for the movie The Ides of March at Xavier University!  The movie is directed by George Clooney and is starring Ryan Gosling (The Notebook, Blue Valentine), Paul Giamatti (Sideways, The Illusionist, Saving Private Ryan, Cinderella Man), Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler, Anger Management, My Cousin Vinny), and Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler, Thirteen).  

the trailer!

His call time (when he had to be on the set) was 8:30 in the morning.  When he got there, he saw that he had his own trailer!!!  It said "Sound Man" on the outside (tee hee).  He thought it was really cool, but said that after awhile it got pretty boring sitting in a trailer by himself.  So, in true Mark fashion, he headed out to talk to some of the people who had come to catch a glimpse of the stars.  After awhile, the people were taking pictures with him and shouting, "Mark!!!" when he would come out of his trailer.  Obviously, he hated every minute of that...

Here are some picture of his exciting day!

on the set, looking at his trailer

Mark's fans! LOL

Mark with another Cincinnati actor, Mike Dennis

Mark with the production assistant, Kerry

the view from his trailer

He got to meet all of the stars mentioned above, which was very exciting.  He met Marisa Tomei in the makeup area, Paul Giamatti while he was walking around, and Ryan Gosling and George Clooney during the filming of his scene.  He said that everyone that worked on the movie was really nice and down to earth.  He said George Clooney talks a lot like he did on E.R., his head down and somewhat soft-spoken.  He was unable to get a picture with George, but he was able to get some awesome pics with Ryan and Paul!  

Mark and Ryan Gosling-he's tall!  (and cute)

Mark and Paul Giamatti

He filmed his scene from 1:30 until about 5:30.  He said it was so much fun, he couldn't believe he was getting paid to do it!  He didn't want the day to end, but of course, it had to.  It was great seeing him spend a day doing something he loves so much.  Hopefully, this movie will open some doors for him to pursue more acting jobs in the future!


Now, keep those fingers crossed that his scene doesn't get cut!!!!!!

Heather's Birthday

My sister, Heather, celebrated her 37th birthday this week!


I am so lucky to have a sister, but even more lucky to have Heather as my sister.  We are 4 1/2 years apart, so growing up wasn't always easy.  I was usually spying on her, taking her clothes, playing in her make-up & jewelry-basically being a pesky little sister.  We had some epic fights that usually ended in me chasing her with brooms or other objects that I wanted to beat her with (I might have anger issues...).


That all changed when I finally began to mature.  We became best friends and formed a bond that will never be broken.  Heather has always been a cool older sister; letting me hang out with her friends, doing my hair for me, giving me advice, etc.  I quickly realized that she always had my back, and I knew I would always have hers.  


Heather, you are the most gentle, kind-hearted person I know.  Your compassion and empathy are an inspiration to me always.  Your life has had many challenges, but you always pick yourself up and move forward with a smile on your face.  You are a great mom to Aidan, a great wife to Steve, and an awesome sister to me.  I know I can count on you in any circumstance-you've always been there for me in the good times and bad.  You are truly a blessing in my life and I hope you know that I love you very much!


Happy Birthday!

Hollywood Calling...

Woo..................Hoo! 

Mark auditioned for a part in the George Clooney movie, called The Ides of March - and he got it!  We are so excited-I think I'm more excited than he is, sometimes!  He will be playing a sound guy, and will be in a scene with Ryan Gossling (from The Notebook).  It's a small part, but the fact that he will be in a scene with the star of the movie isn't bad!  


Of course, he's nervous.  He keeps thinking of all the ways this could go wrong.  However, the wardrobe department called him today to get his measurements, so things are moving forward!  He films on February 16th at an unknown location.  I'll keep you posted (and hopefully have some cool pics to upload!!).  


Mark, you've waited a long time for this.  You deserve to be excited, and I hope you relax and enjoy it!  No matter what happens, I am very proud of who you are and how you take care of our family.  I hope you never forget that your 3 biggest fans will always be cheering you on!  

And no...we are not going to move to California.