taking a break.

promise.

we are moving this week.
it's happening. it's really happening.
as such, i probably won't be blogging until we're settled a bit in our new place in California.

in the meantime, pray for us if you think of it. pray that the girls will adjust quickly. that we'll enjoy these next two weeks as a family and that we'll soak up all we can from our visit with the Gerbers. pray that we'll make some great memories and that we'll allow ourselves to be both SO excited for the future and yet SO sad about the sweet friends we'll be leaving behind.

alright.
see ya on the left coast. :)

((byebyebaby weight)) week one.

i can sum up my first week of concerted weight loss by mentioning two things: MyFitnessPal.com and my rice cooker.

a great tool.

after my post about wanting to lose this weight, an old friend messaged and recommended the website MyFitnessPal.com as a way to help track my food intake. HOLY SMOKES. life changer. i knew that i was eating too much, but didn't realize that i was so far beyond my needed calories that i should probably weigh five hundred pounds right now. YIKES! things i love about this website:

• completely FREE
• a little bit of accountability ((you can "friend" other people))
• i have yet to eat a food that is not already in their database
• very user friendly
• fast....and it takes less time the more you use it
• it's not a "program". it's a tool.
• it's helping. period.

yep. in the first week, i've lost three pounds. the beginning is easier than the end and i have a long way to go, but it was a nice start to the journey! if you decide to give the website a try, make sure you look me up....i'm lindzwhite01 and i'd love to cheer you on. :)

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and what's so awesome about my rice cooker?

the real question is what's NOT awesome about my rice cooker.

appliance love.

i bought my rice cooker a couple months ago, but it's hit a whole new level of awesome now that i'm counting calories.  this thing not only makes rice ((duh)), but really any other whole grain. my favorite is steelcut oats. it also steams veggies and even eggs. and none of this is a big deal except for the fact that you can do it ahead....as in, during the kids' naptime. that's my favorite way to use it. put rice in the rice cooker, chicken in the crockpot, steam some veggies in the minutes before we eat and a healthy dinner's ready without ever having to stand at the stove. also awesome is that rice comes out perfectly EVERY time. plus, you can make a ton and then portion it out for the rest of the week ((calorie counting no-brainer)).

i could go on and on about this because i get REALLY excited about a good appliance. in fact, waking up for the first time to the smell of homemade cinnamon oatmeal, i was so excited that i called my sister at 7:30am or something absurd like that. her response to my giddy report was "lindz, it's too early in the morning for me to pretend to care about your rice cooker." truer words have never been spoken.

anyway, it was a great first week! anyone else out there trying to get their body back?

to remember.

here are a few things about the girls i never want to forget:

6 months old and looooving life

if i had to predict my children's future professions based on their current behavior, i would guess that molly will grow up to be the Activities Director on a cruise ship and sadie will be the benevolent dictator of some unfortunate third world country.  molly wants nothing more than to have fun. she babbles, she smiles, she laughs. she wants only to be with people. sadie wants only to control the universe. she is smart and driven and more than willing to exploit any weakness to her advantage. depending on the hour she can be either the sweetest most obedient child you've ever seen....or the epitome of the "terrible twos". we love her either way, but MAN sometimes it kicks my butt.

partners in crime.

sadie obviously does not understand what it means when we say we are moving to california. however, she DOES know that she has been promised a new backpack and an airplane ride. in fact, for the last several weeks, any plane she notices flying by is "going to califowna". she talks about how she's going to go to the beach with her buddies, Dan and Candice and their puppy. and play with "new friends at the new church". we hope for as much and pray that the transition goes as smoothly as possible.

good morning, sunshine.

sadie is amazing us with everything she knows. she can point out letters without prompting, knows all her shapes and colors, and just this week started drawing stick figures. her favorite show is Curious George and the entire world stops when she is allowed to watch it. she loves going outside, to the library, and down to "her house" in the basement. her favorite book before bedtime is Where's Waldo...which of course has no story, just lots of things to point at and say "what's that, mommy?"  if molly so much as whimpers, she drops everything to run over and say "don't worry, molly, it's okay." she is quite the lovable, hilarious, intelligent, exhausting little person.

me and mollypop.

and what about sweetmolly? well, she's a rolling machine but not yet sitting. she is mesmerized by sadie and laughs at nearly everything she does.  she takes two naps and sleeps from 7:30pm-5:30am...then right back in bed until around 7:30am. while she is almost always happy, when she is not she will let you know in the most dramatic way possible. she will go from content/playing baby to screaming/flailing baby in less than thirty seconds. it's not an "i'm hungry" cry. it's an"i'm hungry and may never eat again" cry. we predicted the drama, remember? she is so cute and cuddly and happy. i wish she could stay this size forever. if you figure out a way to arrange that, please let me know.