My Kids

Yesterday the kids and I had SUCH a great day. We got to the YMCA at 930 and they were all excited to go play and I was all excited to go workout. I dropped them off, I worked out, and then I went and picked them up. I surprised them by bringing their swimsuits and taking them to the indoor pool. We get in there and as they're splashing in the water, the lifeguard comes and tells me that the pool isn't open for "open swim" for another hour and a half. All of the parents on the other side of the pool seemed to be staring at the little rednecks ruining swim lessons. oops. So I hurriedly dress the boys and we go get haircuts. They were angels. So I take them to Chifila. Because I am the kind of mom who if you behave, you get rewarded. And if you're bad… you get nothin'. And OH! it smelled so good. But I was a good girl and drank my protein shake... We went back to the Y and the kids had such a blast playing in the water. I took lots of pictures and I was the bestest mommy ever. 

Fast forward to today.

 We get to the Y and Drew starts freaking out. He yells and cries that he doesn't want to play and even though I KNOW that if I just leave he will be fine, I continue to hang around and try to bribe him into going peacefully. Uh, no. So, finally I just bite the bullet and let him over the half wall that separates the play area from the drop off area. Kid is whaling about and hits/scratches me directly in the eyeball. Thank God he wasn't in arms reach because natural reflex may have gotten CPS called by a worried care giver. As I was walking up the the cardio gym my eye is watering and my nose is pouring. Fluids are draining from my face and the only toilet I know of is occupied. Other mothers told me not to be upset, that he would get used to being dropped off. I took me a few comments to realize they thought that I was the one who was upset. I'm not really sure if telling them my terrorist 2 year old had assaulted me so I just said thanks and continued on. When I went back to pick him up he was playing with cars and totally happy. Figures.

Moral of my story:

Some days are good and some days are just full of $#!*

I will never post a picture of my children on Instagram saying how well behaved they were.

I will still post pictures about how cute I think they are. At least that doesn't change.

Parenting the way you probably shouldn't...

My boys like to argue.  A lot.  They fight over everything that we don't have 2 of and sometimes they even fight over those things because they can't find the twin object. 

 Today's delima: 

We have 1 Batman cape that has a hood with bat ears and 1 Batman mask.  Today, Eli was wearing the cape and Andrew had the mask. Andrew decides he wants the cape.  After a long begging session from A, E makes it clear that he's not giving it up.  I reassure A that it will be OK, because really...the mask is cooler. E's eyes widened and he immediately traded objects.  We have been trying to teach Eli how to manipulate Drew into being content with what he has but Eli just can't commit.  He knows that his (whatever he is playing with) is better and he laughs, giving Andrew the knowledge he needs to know that Eli is playing him.  So, for now... I'll just keep manipulating whichever one I need to to keep the peace. I'll worry about the consequences later.  

About Last Night

I'm going to go ahead and confess that when it comes to bedtime, I really funked it up as a mom when my two were babies. I really enjoyed loving on my sweet boys so I rocked them to sleep when they napped and for bedtime. Sometimes I even held them for an hour or so after they slept because I too had fallen asleep, or Daniel and I were watching a show or movie so we just stayed like that.

OH. OH, how I see the error in my ways! I really wouldn't give that sweet time holding my babies back for anything, but I probably should. I should give it back so that they (Andrew) will go to sleep on his own and not call for anyone to sleep with him in the middle of the night. We JUST (a couple weeks ago) quit having to lay down with Eli to get him to sleep… But really, it wasn't that big of a deal because, unlike his brother, he literally falls asleep the moment his head hits the pillow. Andrew, this kid tosses and turns for 30-45 minutes until he just wears himself out. Then, I leave. I go to my bed and somewhere between 11:45 and 1 am he yells,

 "Mommy!                       MO-mmy!?                    MOM-myyy!                 MOMMMMMMMAAAAYYYYY!?!?!?"

I go in, lay down and he is back asleep. But so am I. Sometimes I don't even remember going in there. I wake up confused and not sure where I am or how much I drank…

Oh… yea.  Not a wild night in that sense.

I have tried cutting out his nap thinking it would make his night sleep more productive but it only make things worse. He is great at falling asleep at nap time. We lay down, he says he isn't tired and then falls asleep just 2 minutes later. We cut out a lot of screen time. I have cut down on his sugar. We do relaxing things after dinner and try not to get too riled up.The other day we were outside after nap time and I know that kid ran a mile around our neighborhood, he jumped on the trampoline and chased Duke around the yard. 

I'm giving him 18 more months. Then he's on his own. I don't really know how Eli would have done if we had quit trying to lay with him at this age so I guess we will just push through.

Last night I fell asleep in his bed while trying to get him to sleep. I got up at 12:45 to brush my teeth and get into my bed. While I was brushing, he started yelling. He continued to talk in his sleep until we got up at 6:45 am. He wanted specific toys that Eli was apparently taking from him. He wanted a peanut butter spoon. He wanted to go to the park. It. Just. Didn't. Stop. 

I was wide awake until at least the last time I looked at my watch-3:30.

I had a million thoughts running  through my head so I typed them on my phone's memo pad. Glad I did because I don't even remember what they were now. At least I have a few blog topics due to being awake for such a miserably long time early this morning! I have a lot of friends who are recently becoming moms. They're all smarter than me to begin with so I am sure they're laying their babies down once they even begin to look tired. I'm not going to tell them to read this, but if they do…I hope they heed my warning and buy some earplugs and let those kids cry.it.out.

;)

I'm going to drink a Spark and start feeling better!

WOW!

I am just COMPLETELY blown away by the responses I received yesterday! By noon I had helped 3 people get on challenges, 1 friend sign up as a distributor and order a challenge, and I still have 4 more people who wanted to talk it over with their spouses before they commit. And that is SO important. I hope that I stressed enough that this is NOT a DIET! This is a LIFESTYLE CHANGE! 

I just can not quit smiling. And I know that when these amazing friends (and some family) start, they won't be able to stop smiling either! 

I talked to SO many people yesterday, and I told them, I feel like one of those people on an infomercial at 2 am saying "DO NOT LET THIS OPPORTUNITY PASS YOU BY!" Which, it won't. AdvoCare isn't going anywhere. But just the opportunity to feel better NOW is at hand. 

My blog isn't going to be all about AdvoCare now, but I will keep sharing. I know many of you are here for the 2 little people that live in my home. Eli is incredibly excited about the warmer weather because the kid LOVES new clothes. His ChiChi sent him and Drew some short sleeve shirts in the mail and he had to try aaalllll of them on. Drew wasn't as excited, he doesn't like wearing "short shirts and short pants." He told me the other day that they… and I quote… "freak me out."

OK, little 2 year old. Wear your long sleeves and blue jeans on this sunny and 78º  day. He was sweating after 10 minutes and I finally convinced him to change. 

I will leave you with this conversation I overheard coming from the back of the car the other day:

(One child has a Batman with a blue costume and the other has one wearing black)

D: Hey Black Batman, let's go see ChiiiiiChi and Paaaapaw

E: YES! Let's go, but you know it is a very long drive. 

D: That's OK, Mommy is driving us. 

E: And when we get there it will be like Christmas because they will have lots of prizes for us to open!

Spoiled much?

The truth

Before I show you what I've accomplished past 10 days, I want to share with you all the truth why I started this challenge.

1. I have zero control over anything in this entire world, except for myself. And for the past 27 years and couple of months I have not done a very great job at exercising any control. I can't control the way my kids act in public (have you ever tried stopping a melt down on isle 6? Although they are punished for their behavior it doesn't mean they're not going to freak out about getting Fruit Loops instead of Trix.) I can't control the bipolar weather that makes my self diagnosis of SAD linger. 

2. Referring to previously mentioned lack of control, I am a binge eater. My friends who know me best know my weakness for hotdog buns and generally any bread or carbohydrate of any type. I can and have eaten an entire large pizza by myself on more that one occasion. I have eaten an entire pack of hotdog buns in much less than a day's time. Just a few weeks ago I made the no bake drop cookies and ate them until I sugar crashed had to make the boys nap so that I could as well. My addiction is real. And it hurts.

3. After binging, I won't eat until Daniel comes home for dinner for a couple days. Then I'm left with even less energy. 

Now, I'm telling you why I am sharing all of this with you. 

1. I feel like a brand new person. Let me expand...

2. My own little personal saying these past few days is "put good in and good comes out." This can be taken in a couple different ways. The first being that pooping is much more pleasant when you eat healthier. Sorry but it's true. It's magical and I will just leave it at that. The second way is just that my whole disposition feels completely different. I don't wake up and dread getting the day started. I wake up HUNGRY and ready to eat something that is going to fuel me to be the person that I need to be. The person I WANT to be. The mom that my kinds want and deserve.

3. If you're a Christian (and I know not all of you are, so I'll save your conversion for another blog, jk) then you know (or maybe not) that gluttony is a sin. Food is suppose to nourish US to serve HIM. I wasn't doing much serving when I was sugar drunk at 2 in the afternoon. I can't describe how ashamed I am for what I've put in my body. It may sound so silly to you, but this has truly been a life changing experience for me.

And now, I share with you my before and afters… Have any of you heard the saying "abs are made in the kitchen" ? Well this is why, not that I have abs…yet, but this is all because of putting good food and the right nutrients in my body with AdvoCare. Yes, I did work out…but nothing that was overly strenuous. Seriously, anyone can do some squats, lunges, crunches and arm weights while watching TV. I have always had a belly pooch and I have always been insecure about it. But now seeing how much I've changed (inside and out) gives me all the more motivation to continue. I've always said I won't have abs because I love bread too much. Well, I can still have bread…just not the whole loaf. And I can have abs. I will have abs…maybe. Daniel isn't a fan of abs, and he's the only one I've got to impress anyway!

Please don't judge too harshly, it has been only 10 days. I can't wait to see what the next 14 days of the challenge have in store. If you have any questions about Advocare, let me know! I have some amazing friends who have been doing this a lot longer than I have and if I can't answer your questions then they definitely can. 

BTW! I've ordered some samples of Spark to send out to you guys just so you can see what all of the fuss is about! Even if you're not up for the challenge, this stuff is Waaaaay better than Monsters and Red Bull!

I just...

I just have to share with you guys! Today is day 9 that I, Brittany Land, have gone without dairy, sodas, bread, and sugar. Last Monday Daniel and I started the AdvoCare 24 day challenge. Tomorrow will be our final day of the 10 day cleanse. I never in my life thought that I possessed the will power to keep from taking a bite out of the boys PB&Js. I baked two or three times a week. I always had homemade cookies or cupcakes or pie or SOMETHING that I can eat at a cravings whim. 

I am addicted to sugar. 

The first 3 days were very hard, but I stayed strong. Having Daniel, my mom, a friend and my coaches that I could text or call to take my mind off of wanting something I didn't NEED made this so much easier. At times I wanted to run down to the cupcake shop and stuff my face, but I didn't. And now, I feel like a brand new person. I use to CRASH every day between 1 and 2 pm. I was loaded up on simple carbs and my body just could not handle it.

For breakfast I've been eating steel cut oats (which I can't believe I never had before now) with either strawberries, blueberries or banana and just a tiny dash of Stevia in the Raw in it with a side of 2 egg whites (sometimes scrambled and sometimes boiled). This has been the hardest part because I am NOT a breakfast person…unless it's 6 bowls of Lucky Charms. 

I should add that the first and last 3 days of the cleanse I drink a fiber drink in the AM before breakfast. The first 7 days I took herbal cleanse supplements at bed time.

The last 7 days I took a pro biotic before breakfast. 

In between meals I munch on nuts, seeds, fresh fruit and veggies, hummus, peanut butter, and just anything that is high in fiber and protein and not processed. 

Lunches are either salads or left overs from the night before or both. Yesterday I opened a can of tuna, mixed in a tsp of mustard and sprinkled with pepper and it was so delicious. I have seen my sister do this before and thought it was gross… But I tried it. And I liked it. A lot. I ate that with a slice of avocado and some cherry tomatoes. 

For dinner I have been cooking a lot with ground turkey. We have had tacos with homemade seasoning wrapped in lettuce, Spaghetti squash with turkey meat sauce, Chicken fajitas and using lettuce again instead of tortillas (which I am surprised I liked so much. I usually hate myself after Mexican food but not this week!), ground turkey made into patties stuffed with mushrooms and onions (we ate them like hamburger steak), and turkey meatballs (made like meatloaf but with turkey and instead of bread crumbs I used oats). 

This is my second biggest accomplishment. Cooking EVERY night. I'm not going to pretend that we don't normally eat out twice a week. Because we did. And it was showing. 

Third accomplishment is my water intake. They say that you should divide your weight by 2 and drink that many ounces. I've been working out so I've been drinking about 100 oz each day plus my Spark once or twice a day. This is probably AdvoCare's freaking golden child because it is loaded with vitamins and has only half the caffeine of a cup of coffee. I would usually drink a cup or two in the morning but Daniel and my mom would drink it all day every day, and even into the night. Both of them have said that they have had no issues with giving up coffee solely because Spark gives them hours of energy without jitters or a crash. 

I first signed up as a distributor for AdvoCare so I could get 20% off when we ordered our challenges. Now, it is a company with quality products that I truly believe in. It isn't a diet. It is a lifestyle change. And I know that Daniel and I HAD to change the way we were eating or we'd be diabetics within a few years. Now, we will STILL eat our cake, but just a piece. And probably not every day. My friend Ashley who first introduced us to AdvoCare says it's about making good choices at an 80% to 20% ratio. If you're going to eat a muffin or bagel, just keep the rest of it clean. I feel like this challenge is getting us off to the jumpstart that we needed to show us that we CAN make good choices and that they can be healthy and delicious. I am so blown away by not only the discipline I've had these past few days but that everyone on the challenge with me has shown. 

(I feel that I should disclose that during Mr Peabody and Sherman on Saturday I ate 8 of the boys pretzel M&Ms and about 6 of the little sour gummy things.)