To you and yours

from our family to yours, we wish you warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday.

Merry Christmas!

 

tragic.

My heart goes out of all of the families and friends of the victims in Newtown, CT. I cannot even begin to imagine the devestation and destruction these people are living through and it just breaks my heart.

A friend of mine posted this yesterday on FB and iy couldnt be more true.

"Every day at work, I read about horrific crimes and it is always sad, but I can usually divorce myself from those situations surrounding those crimes pretty easily. But, this…. This is something we cannot really detach from. What a heinous crime against our most innocent young and precious lives.

Heal the broken hearted and bind up their wounds."

-Psalm 47:3

please let your thoughts and prayers be with the victims and their families, as well as the survivors of yesterdays tragic events. they need to feel our strength and love behind them at such a desperate time.

 

I got the leib!

this is a big, BIG moment for ye olde bee brood blog. I have been nominated by practical blog royalty, The Real Nancy Clue, for the Leibster Award!

do you read Nancy yet? well you need to. first of all, this girl is a boss for the main fact she is not in jail. the reason she writes is a doozy and I know had I been walkin in her heels, mama would be shackin up with  bobby jean for the next 20 years. Ms. Nancy is also hysterical. do yourself a favor and watch her fertility dance video (and think about babies). She rocks it out to a little digital underground all in the name of helping a friend. she's a bad bee.

Rules are rules, and Ive got to mention them. In order to accept this award you must;
1- thank the person that nominated you
2-write 11 fact-o-files about yourself
3-answer 11 questions given to you by the nominator (shakin in mah boots)
4-nominate 11 other bloggers who have 200 followers or less. tag them in your post
5-create 11 new questions for the bloggers you are nominating
6-notify your 11 nominees on their blog, so they can accept and join the fun!
7-not nominate the person who nominated you
8-once you have met these terms, you may add the Leibster Award Button to your blog.

11 randoms about mama b-

1-Just like my girl Nancy, I am late.for.everything.
2-I am bi-lingual. Si habla Espanol!
3-I once swallowed a paperclip that I was messing (in my mouth. I know. cringe. gross. ew) with trying to make sound effects for saggy boobs.
4-I love all things Sons of Anarchy. Go ahead, quiz me! (No really, I think its fun. Someone play SOA trivia with me!)
5-I love to read. Just about anything other than classics, non-fiction and anything boring. Latest Favorite is Sempre (forever) by J.M Darhower
6-When my son was in the NICU, my husband accidentally stabbed me in the toe with a syringe full of breast milk  Imagine having to explain that for the next year during the Red Cross questionnaire for donating blood.
7-I have 5 tattoos, and would like more.
8-Malibu and Diet is my go go juice. Only the taste of Coke makes me want to brush my teeth with a brillo pad. I'm a pepsi girl!
9-I don't know when, if ever, I will take out my nose ring. To me my nose is large and in-charge and my piercing just helps balance it out. I feel so awkward and naked without it.
10-My hair and it's natural red hue are one of my favorite features about myself. I have colored my hair all sorts of different colors, including pink, but I always come back to red.
11-I have had my own commercial, been on a telethon, been on American Chopper and my family had our own segment on our local news channel all in the past 3 years.

Nancy's 11 questions for me-

1-what was your first concert? My aunt took me and a friend to see Lonestar and Blake Shelton in 2001?2002? Blake Shelton was the opener, that's how long ago it was. It was the start of a serious concert fever. We sat in the nosebleeds and I just remember looking down and thinking about how much more fun all the people on the floor were having. And they were all standing up. Where I was sitting, no one stood, cheered, danced, whooped. Nothing! From then on, people like that made me crazy!!

2-if you were on death row, what would be your last meal before you were executed?  Oh Boy, here we go. Stuffed crust cheese pizza, asparagus, Shells and cheese, Chips and queso/ rotel, Cheese filled crescent rolls with a ton of garlic salt. diet Pepsi. Those little cookies with the Reese's cups pressed in the middle and some peanut butter balls. What? I'm not a fatty girl because I would pick salad, that is for dayyyyum sure.

3-if you could invite 3 people (living or dead) to dinner, who would you choose? This is where you all learn exactly how un-worldly (is that the right word? whatever, I don't care) I am.
Reba McIntire. Katy Sagal. Amy Sherman Pallidino. #1 and #3 would make me laugh until I pissed myself and then Katy would tell us to shut up, zip up our boots and throw back our drinks.

4-what was your most favorite day ever? Easy peasy lemon squeezy. August 17th 2009. After 4 months and 1 week in Nicus all over this God-forsaken state, I got to put my son in his car seat and hightail his mini-booty home.

5-what is one thing you would like to do before you die? I have a lot of these things. As a individual, I would like to get to a healthy and fit weight. Enjoy a summer, and enjoy a day in my life without that guilt and misery of being overweight. As a wife, I would like to go with my husband on an anniversary trip somewhere totally inappropriate and act like drunken sex fiends. Duval street, Vegas, Mardi Gras. Whatever. As a mom, I want to do my best raising my son to grow up both knowing how special he is and yet not knowing how different he is. I would like him to grow up outside the label. I would like to continue to show him the magic that is Disney. For him to see things I didn't, and I want to be there to see him live it.

6-what was your first car? Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. That thing was awesome and it only met its demise when I ran off the road on an icy curve and plowed over and ex-boyfriends bushes. end scene.

7-what is your ultimate dream vacation destination? One of those little huts in the middle of the ocean on an end of a dock that everyone has posted on pinterest at one moment or another. Or Disney World.

8-what is your most embarrassing moment? Oh man, I have so many to name. Plowing over an exes bushes is pretty high up there. Ive fallen at work, both on my face and down the stairs. Ive cried in front of hundreds of people. I stuttered on TV making the word best sound like bestest. I could go on and on.

9-who is your celebrity free pass? Charlie Hunnam as Jax Teller, but he must be in character, and he must wear his kutte. Channing Tatum could be a good time too as long as we get to go dancing first.

10-what is your biggest pet peeve? People who try to get in an elevator before letting everyone off first.

11- how old were you when you lost your virginity (you didn't think you were getting off that easy did you?) Ehhh boy. I really do not want to answer this. I have family that reads this for Heaven's sake. Lets just say this. I was too young (even though I had this boyfriend for a very long time in grade school years. Remember I'm a long term girl). My age ended with -teen and I couldn't drive yet.

My 11 questions-
1-Do you speak any languages other than English?
2-What is your favorite TV show/shows?
3-Natural Hair Color? Did you keep it, or do you color? Have you ever had a non-traditional color? (pink, blue, purple, seafoam...?)
4-What was the first cd/cassette you bought yourself?
5-What is your go-go juice made up of?
6-Favorite personal feature?
7-If you could have any job in the world, what would you do?
8-Do you have any tattoos? If so, what do they mean? If not, would you ever get one?
9-Have you ever been on television?
10-What is your all-time favorite meal, and who makes it?
11- Do you know your heritage and do you follow any traditions or have any connection to traditions of your ancestors/culture.

My 11 Nominees-
1.Andra at United States of Andra. My blogswap partner, go check her out to see what goodies I sent her!
2. Ashley at Life as Ashlet & 3. Isha at Everyday Isha. These 2 girls were on the same forums as me back in the day, and I just feel, familiar with them. This is when I really started looking into blogging and the whole mommy blogger situation and tried to decide if I wanted to blog about our TTC road.
3.Leigh Anne at Elle Noel.
4. Kassie at Southern Girl Gets Fit, the mastermind behind our blogger swap that hooked.me.up
5. Darci at Strongly Feminine

And with that, I'm going to bow out. Most of the blogs I follow have "too many followers" and the others have this award somewhere in their comments or last 5 posts. I will give you some of my "must reads" right now(in addition to the above) ...

Runs for Cookies
Mama Laughlin
Journey of a dreamer
4Kottez Runs It
Where we can live like Jack and Sally
The Real Nancy Clue
Is This thing on
Meals and Miles
Meals and Moves

There you have it! Now hop around and show some love!

Skeletons

When I first started the interview process with Andrea, I had to go through a typical questionaire about my stats, eating likes and dislikes, cravings, habits and so many other details. I've done questionaires like this before when Ive investigated programs with the hospital and other gyms.

What I didn't expect, was for Andrea to get all up in my business.

After many many conversations back and forth, Andrea brought of something that I cannot seem to let go of. I cannot imagine what goes through her mind as she knows she has to ask.

"Would you consider yourself a binge eater?"

I didn't know what to say, and was speechless for over a full 24 hours.

What do you say when someone you barely know asks soul searching questions. A person who has made a career out of helping people succeed and has a passion for health and wellness. Is educated and certified to ask those questions. the questions that drop your stomach and make you silent.

I have never considered myself as someone with food addiction issues, or disordered eating tendencies. My answers have always included words like "lack of willpower" "over-eat" and "sweet tooth". What those answers do not say is how often I was over-indulging.

Those answers do not include confessionals about how I used to eat my desserts in the elevator  at work, as fast as I could so that my co-workers didnt know I was eating cookies. again. Those answers do not tell how my husband and I do not discuss food because I don't want him to know what I eat in a day. How I have burried wrappers in trashcans, bags, in my car, in other wrappers and Lord knows where else so that no one sees the evidence.

Those answers do not include the emotions of getting on the scale and seeing a gain and having images of the dozens of cookies eaten that week flash in your brain. What shame feels like as it crawls up from your belly, your chest and across your cheeks when someone asks where some piece of food is, when you know exactly where it went. What shame feels like at the register when you are paying for another pair pants, in a different size, when you have several pairs at home that just do.not.fit.

I do not tell of knowing I was getting ready to start program after program, including this one and looking down at an empty container. I have not told anyone, that on the eve of starting TDC, I ate an entire container (half gallon) of ice cream in a 24 hour period.

I am not sure I am ready to accept a disordered eating label, a binge eater/binger label. I will admit to being a compulsive overeater. I eat way past the point of satisfaction and am often overcome with the need to eat NOT out of hunger rather, out of emotion and the feeling of just needing to keep eating until that emotion, stress or another trigger is squashed or until the food is just gone.

Triggers come in all different varities and I am really working on identifing and learning how to cope with them. Day to day is a little easier to deal with then the long range of where I will be in a week, or a month. TDC and I have looked at my habits and made the necessary changes to attempt to control those habits throught the course of my program. It is nerve-wracking and just seems so unattainable.

Not reaching goal, but reaching control. To me, those are 2 seperate things. Sometimes the thought of never being able to binge, or overeat almost makes me a little sad. To know that I do not know the next time I will be inclined to just eat. eat until the stress is gone. eat until the bitterness and thoughts are burried. but I know that those emotions are so much more than just eating, and they cannot be squashed anymore. It is not safe for my health, emotional or physical. I need to move on. move forward, heal and get better.

It has been 9 days, since I last binged overate.


*let me say that TDC is not a medical doctor and I have not been diagnosed by a medical professional. I have left many pieces of this conversation out. This is not meant to diagnose or assist in diagnosing anyone but myself. This post's purpose is to share what is on my mind and my a-ha moment. Nothing further.

This one time, we were on TV

You see this one time, We were on American Chopper; Sr. vs. Jr.
 

 

A pretty major construction company in the state I live in, had commissioned a bike and worked out a deal with Pauly to have Paul Jr Designs build the bike and air it all on television. Buyers could then purchase raffle tickets for $20 to purchase a chance to win the bike, tax free (as the taxes were to be paid by the owner of the construction company).

The owner of that constrcution company, has triplet daughters, one with a pretty serious illness. I don't want to say too much about his family, but the charity he chose to support, was the March of Dimes.

For those of you new here, I had my son 16 weeks early in 2009, and he weighed roughly about the size of a sack of sugar. You can read all about that here. My family was chosen to represent the local division of the March of Dimes for the year 2012. What that means is we are the local face of the cause for a whole year, going to events, making speeches, really trying to get the word out there and champion for babies.

So when Paul Jr. came to town, and decided to check out the hospital in the area and really get a feel for the cause and what it means to be affected by premature birth, they wanted to get a family on air to chat with the team and really get the word on camera. Well what better than the March of Dimes Ambassador Family!

Thats where we come in!

We received a call about 10 O'clock in the morning, and were presented with this amazing opportunity to meet the cast of American Chopper and be featured in an episode. I think my husband wanted to pee his pants he was so excited. We had 4 hours to get dressed, ready and to the hospital...to wait.

In all honesty, the recording process is borrrr-ring. There is a lot of standing around. waiting. planning. moving things around. waiting. directing and waiting. then you film for 5 minutes. wait and boom. go home.

Meeting the cast was something I do not think I will ever forget. We are fans of the show (even before we met them) and to see what they do and meet them up front is just phenominal. There is a lot of pieces that make up the puzzle of being on television and an insane amount of pressure.

The guys (and Rachel) and their entire crew was fantastic. They were friendly, personable and incredibly down to earth. They met fans, signed autographs and were very laid back, all while listening, getting ideas and taking direction for about 15 different people in 5 minutes. I was awe-struck! Someone even stopped my husband, and asked him for his autograph just because we were standing with them, its crazy!

Dawson was of course in a pistol of a mood. Running, climbing and screaming like a banchee. I know for me, walking into the hospital, everything is familiar. It has this smell, that is unlike anything I have ever encountered again, specific to the floor even. It is the smell of santizer and people. It just all is so sterile, while also being tranquil? I dont really know how to describe it. Dawson has never mentioned anything about that hospital, but I wonder if it is familiar to him? I wonder if he knows that smell, those sounds, that environment? 

I have to assume so, because within minutes of walking onto that floor, dawson just flipped. Into crazy flea-like insanity. You can hear and see him running around like crazy in our segment and it just is hilarious. I don't know whether to shake my head and laugh, or cry. because thats my boy!

So anyway, we received the news that the bike was ready about 5 months later. They had planned a huge launch party and the construction companies headquarters and we were invited to go. The party was open to both their local March of Dimes offices, our division and all of the associates and their guests with the construction company.

Families all across the area came and shared their stories, and some great businesses donated their time and energy, as well as some great food and drinks for all of the attendees. Jr. and the crew came and there was a presentation about the construction process and the raffle details, and then Jr. rode on in on our chariot.

The bike they created was fantastic. They worked the MOD symbol into every aspect of the bike. I would love to name all of the parts, but I am not that bike-savy, so let me just say that the mother-baby symbol was everywhere. I loved it, and they really do an amazing job with their creations. So Impressive!!

 

Michigan had raffle tickets go-out state wide to sell and the bike helped raise over $220,000 for the March of Dimes and their research programs helping moms have healthy, full term pregnancies, and babies born to soon have a change.

It was an opportunity we will never forget, and an experience that changed us. 

 

Blogger Swap with Southern Girl Gets Fit!

In November, Kassie with Southern Girl Gets Fit organized a blogger swap for any person who was interested. She took down names, hobbies, likes and dislikes, and a ton of other embarrassing helpful information about all of the interested bloggers. She then put all their names in a hat, swished them around, said abracadabra and ta-da! We all had partners.

I was assigned this great girl Andrea (not to be confused with my girl Andrea from TDC, ANOTHER great Andrea) from the south, and away we went shopping.

Now I am embarrassed to admit, that like all things my package went out late. I had my heart set on a few specific items and I underestimated exactly how much of a goose chase I would have to go on to get it, but I hope she loves what I sent ;)

I LOVE what I received in the mail today.

First of all, receiving packages in the mail when you know they are for you is about as exciting as this chubby girl standing in front of a case of donuts topped with sprinkles. I do my fair share of online shopping, mostly for the little man, but I love receiving goodies in the mail!

 

I received a whole package full of goodies, complete with a note and then individual notes from Andrea telling me why she bought what she did and what it made her think of.

 

I got a great wine stopper, SOA earphones, a new cup, yellow notepads for my desk, and a bottle sweater. Okay now lets break this down.

1. Wine stopper. Life is Short, Wine More. Enough Said.

2. Sons Of Anarchy Headphones. Have we talked about my SOA obsession? No, well I am not sure there is a way to describe it that doesn't include the words "certifiable", but I love SOA. I love the characters (not just the hot one, although there are many pictures of Jax saved on my phone. Computer. Walls. etc etc) and the writing/ writer. I love the music. I freaking LOVE Katy Segal.

 I love all of it. These were perfect.

3. I have an obsession. Well, 3 obsessions. 1) SOA. 2) Bags. 3) Cups. Again, perfect. Cannot wait to take this fun new cup into work and have it cheer me up (and keep me hydrated!) all day!

4.New yellow post it notes. I love notes. I love lists. I love post-its.

5. A BOTTLE SWEATER. Have you ever seen anything like this? This is fantastic. It is a sweater, for your bottle. No more clammy hands or sweaty bottles or sweat rings. And it's festive. #winning

Its like we were connected at the soul that Andrea and me.

 

 

Next, Andrea made me my very own Birch Box, in a cute little Chevron bag. CHEVRON. Love

I got 3 samples of Gucci Flora perfume, some sassy lip balm, lotion, face wash and wipes. Im so excited for this sassy-pants little bag and all the fun little samples.

What a great way to try some new things!

 

Thank you so much to Kassie for setting this up, and to Andrea for my great gifts.

 I had a great time, and really am loving my treats. I would totally do this again, hopefully in a more timely manner the next time.

How does 5 grand sound for motivation?!

So, hopefully this post actually gets read by somebody. Last week I tried to do a link up (talking about that time we were on American Chopper) and I got a virus. Awesome right. Apparently the FBI isn't too happy with me and my Internet surfing and has locked down my computer until I send them $200. Pshh yeah right. I quarantined that crap so fast. So sorry, so not a sucker here.

Let's talk motivation!

Last week was my first week with Andrea and the Thinning Down Chicks program. Very happy to report that in my first week I lost 6.4lbs!

Your first week starting any program will typically yield high results, because of the shock you have put your system through.

I can honestly say I am really enjoying this program. I eat 5+ times a day, 3 meals and 2 snacks. All of my meals are easy to make and your typical health food, but I can tell you that it is NOT all lettuce.

The recipes on this program are great! Last week we had Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf, Steak, Chicken salads, Cannoli stuffed French Toast nuggets and more amazing things that are really helping me kick some cravings without feeling deprived.

I am so happy that I took this step for both me and my family, and am really happy with the results thus far.

For some added motivation, me and 360 of my closest friends have joined in a dietbet together. Unfamiliar with dietbet? Basically, anyone can go on and create a game with a start date, end date and buy in. Our game was created to motivate each and every one of us to stay strong and beat the Holiday bulge this season. With a mere 5, err 6 grand on the line, I think that is some great motivation. You heard that right, we had a $20 buy in, and with so many players, our kitty is now up to $6400. Any player who loses 4% of their starting weight will split the pot. Game on folks!