Weigh in Wednesday

SOOOO I had a bit of a FAIL week this week.  Somwhere along the way I ate at McDonalds, ice-cream was involved in one of my days, a high school basketball game with candy and popcorn made an appearance...oh wait that was all SATURDAY!!!  UGHHH.  Then like always I felt like I had already screwed up so I might as well give up for the week.  I KNOW I KNOW!!!  STUPID!!!  BUT all in all it turned out ok.  I LOST 1 pound.  WOHOO!!!  Not as great as last week, but better than gaining TWO right???  I LOVED the comments, emails, messages, and phone calls I got this week.  TONS of support THANKS!!  I also loved hearing everyone's advice and feedback, so KEEP IT COMING.  It really does help to know that I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE.  Which is why I took the advice of TWO OF YOU LOVELY GALS and started using MYFITNESSPAL again. 

I have used it on and off before, but never with friends.  SOOO right now I only have one friend.  If you wanna be my weight loss buddy (hahaha) just shoot me an email!!!  I also agreed somewhere in my crazed ice-cream eating madness to do a 5K (note I said do and not run---no guarantees!!!). 

I had a few new snack finds this week.  MY FAVORITE...

Sweet Chili Quakes mini rice cakes.  OH MY GOODNESS.  They are like really good healthy(er) Doritos.  I am in love with these right now. LOVE!!

Not quite as much love, but still a pretty good crush going on the white cheddar rice cakes.  They are fine plain, but REALLY good with avacado smushed on them...YUM!! I mean what isn't good with some smushed avacado????

I am also loving SWISS MISS DIET cocoa.  I mean 25 calories....how can you not love that???  It works great when I am down to the end of my calories, but do not want to go to bed yet....LATE NIGHT CHOCOLATE.  Just do not drink the regular stuff EVER AGAIN and you will not remember what you are missing :)

And I tried a new workout---since I had done Jillian's all of ONE darn time (I suck), I decided to try Bob.  The Biggest Loser Power Walk video.  I REALLY like working out with the chubby Biggest Loser people more than the SKINNY TONED gals in the regular videos.  I feel like I am the top of the class..haha!!!  Plus it is walking, but with some KICK.  I like that you walk a mile, get sweaty, and can carry around a toddler while you do it.  That is kind of the barometer at my house right now...can my howler monkey child cling to my neck while I do it???? SUCCESS!! 
 
How did you all do???  This weeks goal....stop eating so MUCH of all my healthy snacks...Because a bag of rice cakes a day is probably NOT a good weight loss tool!!!

Itty Bitty Bag (sleeping bag tutorial)

Before Christmas (when I still had contact with my sewing machine), I made a little Itty Bitty sleeping bag for Emersyn's BFF (and her Bitty Baby).  Em has been bugging me to make one for her dollies, so I thought I better go back to my pictures and write down what I did so that I do not have to re-invent the wheel when I decide to be a good mommy and make her one. 

SOOO here is a SUPER quick rundown of what I did.  BTW...this would be GREAT for a kid's sleeping bag too, you would just need to increase the length of the fabric to fit your kiddo!!

I started with 3/4 yards of two coordinating fabrics.  I could have made this smaller, but 3/4 is the cuts that I had, so I just went simple and left it.  I also used selvage to selvage and didn't cut, but you could make it much smaller if you wanted to use less fabric.  Next I used spray adhasive to make a quilt sandwich.  SOOO fabric--batting---fabric.  There are lots of online tutorials for that if you are not a quilter. 

 Next, I quilted straight lines about every 8 inches.  I used the lines between the flowers and just eye balled it. SOO do not look closely because it is SUPER crooked.  If you wanted to skip the quilting step, you could buy pre-quilted fabric OR use fleece.  If using fleece you would only need ONE piece because you would not need to use batting and lining.  Honestly, that might be the way to go:)

 After quilting I cut the edges even and serged around all four sides.  Serging is optional, it just keeps the edges looking clean. 

 Next, I took one SHORT end and folded it down and ironed it. 

THEN I folded it over again to make a cute border at the top of the bag. 

 I top stitched along the inner edge.

 AND then again along the outer edge.

 THEN, I folded in one of the LONG edges and top stitched along the inner edge.

 Last, I sewed the velcro along the entire LONG edge that you just sewed down.  DISCLAIMER....I have yet to find a way to sew velcro on and have it look clean and pretty and straight.  SOOO go with it and get it on there.  Remember this is for a doll:)  Repeat along the other side with the other side of the velcro.  After you have both velcro pieces on, close your bag with right sides together and sew the bottom closed.  SOOO you are putting right sides together and sewing along the last SHORT edge of the sleeping bag.  THEN just flip it right side out. and your bag is DONE. 

I used two pieces of bias tape (ribbon would work better) to make straps.  I just sewed BOTH pieces to ONE of the top edges of the bag about 1/4 of the way in from the edge.

ALLL ready for a slumber party!!!

Then you can just fold it up and take it along....just like a BIG GIRL sleeping bag. 

 Trust me...Your baby doll with be SUPER happy to have her own little sleeping bag.  AND YOUR little DOLL will LOVE you for making something cute for her dolly:)

Weigh in Wednesday....except a little late on THURSDAY!!

OKKK.  So I was SUPER busy yesterday and didn't have time to check in.  I DID have time to weigh in though and the results were good.  I lost 2.5 pounds and couldn't be happier.  This coming up week is busy too, so I am going to stick to the same game plan.  I was only able to work out once...although I don't know if 20 minutes interruped 3 times by crying baby counts as much of a work out.  I DID eat much healthier and I think that is the key for me. 
A few things I tried that I liked:
Chocolate Cruch Rice Cakes!!!  I ALWAYS want some chocolate after the stress of putting my kids to sleep, and these are perfect for me. A little chocolate, but no guilt:)  They are also FAB with a little peanutbutter smeared on.  YUM!!! 

Lemon and Lime water!!  I have a hard time making myself drink enough during the day.  SOOO I added a little lemon or lime to my water and I LOVED it!!!  PLUS it kept my kids from drinking my water all day...SCORE!!

Jillian Micheals 30 Day Shred.  I only did it one day, so I guess that is probably why I liked it:)  But it was quick and the kids could do it along with me.  PLUS I was sore the next day (3 days), so that means it worked (or would if I had done it more times). 

So week one was a success.  Now I just need about 5 more weeks of THE SAME THING!!!  Does anyone else have a success story or tips to share????  Here's to another healthy week....

What I want--Weekend Report

Once again it is the weekend.  AND once again my kid has failed to sleep.  He DID successfully cry for about 2 hours last night around 2 though, so I got some blurry eyed internet shopping time in.  Here are a few of my favorites this week. 

This argyle quilt pattern from etsy.  It looks fun and easy and PERFECT for a boy.  It is so hard to find cute boy patterns.   Plus I love the fabric choices on the one in the picture....so cute.  I guess before I start buying quilt patterns again I will actually have to START sewing again.  BLAHHH...I am sick of sleepless nights of babies...(ok complaints over). 

Next was another BOY pattern.  I think this Boy's cardigan sweater pattern is so super cute.  I can imagine this in grey or brown for church...LOVE IT!!!  I also love this SHOP on etsy.  I have made a few of the Dear My Kids patterns and they always turn out super cute. 

A took a quick stroll through The Fat Quarter Shop and found this cute fabric line, A Walk In The Woods. I love the VINTAGE feel of this sweet little fabric.  **sidenote** I was reading Little Red Riding Hood to Emersyn the other day from a book we got at the library. When it got to the part where the wolf goes to the Grandma's house, he ate her.  The picture showed the wolf with Granny's legs sticking out.  Emersyn's eyes got ENORMOUS and she looked at me like WHAT???  I just kept reading and then Little Red Riding did the whole...Big eyes...Big nose thing and then the wolf ATE HER TOO!!!  What?? I was like...this is NOT the same story my mommy told me.  Poor Emersyn by then was gettting a little fidgety (understandable).  Then the wood cutter came and KILLED THE WOLF and cut him open with his axe...Seriously people this was a kid's book.  THEN the Granny and Little Red jump out of his tummy and live happily ever after.  Emersyn just looked up at me and said "I don't want to read that book anymore."  YEAH I guess!!!  I doubt she is going to be hopping off the Grandma's anytime soon either....poor girl!!  Ok...sidenote over:)

Last on my list, a group of Pyrex bowls from Etsy.  I have orange and red in my house and REALLY want to add more color to my kitchen.  I will be keeping my eyes open when I got thrifting though because if I spent 90 bucks on bowls my husband would wonder about my sanity. 

Well there you have it.  What do you have YOUR eye on these days???  Does it include CHOCOLATE because I am REALLY having some cravings!!!;)

A few healthy printable coupons!!!

To help on my QUEST for a healthier new year, I am always searching for YUMMY products that are also HEALTHY!!!  Blogspark has provided me with 2 coupon links to share with my readers, so YOU can also start the year off healthy.  First off Whole Grains.  We all know we need them, but where do we find them???  Well I recently learned that you should look for cereals that list WHOLE GRAINS as the first ingredient (not sugar--bummer).  Helpful Hint---look for the white check mark.  Cereals with the white check have whole grains as the first ingredient...how handy!!!

Blogspark has provided THIS link for a coupon.  $1.75 off of TWO boxes with the white check.  SOO click the link below and start saving!!!
http://www.myblogspark.com/uc/main/d537/


Next up, SMOOTHIES.  I mentioned earlier that I am going to start drinking green smoothies in order to stay healthy and lose weight.  My kids see me drinking smoothies and of course want some too.  They tolerate my SPINACH ones once in a while, but they really love the GOOD KIND, like the YOPLAIT yummy delicious ones.  Blogspark has also provided a link for $1.00 off of Yoplait frozen smoothies.  WE ARE BIG FANS OF THESE.  Just pop it in the blender and YUM!!!!  AND now they have a chocolate banana flavored one.  CANNOT WAIT!!!  SO click below for $1.00 off.  I am going to keep mine for DOUBLERS at Albertsons and hopefully score some super cheap CHOCOLATE flavored ones!!!
http://www.myblogspark.com/uc/main/707b/

SOOO join me and print off some healthy coupons for GOOD healthy snacks!!!!

These coupons have both been provided by BLOGSPARK.