Worst Parents of the Week

Okay I swear there must be stupidity in the air or something. This week alone I cannot believe how many articles I have read or stories I have heard on the news about parents endangering their children. The other day when I came out to my in laws my Mother in law told me about a toddler almost drowning in a washing machine. Apparently what happened an adult thought to be the child's father put him in the washing machine as a joke only to discover upon closing the door the machine locked and started up (original article http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-washingmachine-kid-20120523,0,4438064.story). Seriously what are you thinking joking or not you do not put a child in a washing machine. Then yesterday I hear the story about a mom who left her child, strapped into their car seat, on the hood of her car. The mother admits she just got done smoking pot prior to driving off with the child (actual article  http://www.inquisitr.com/246788/stoned-mom-leaves-baby-on-roof-of-car-drives-off/). I understand being a parent is stressful, trust me I know I've got 3 boys under the age of 7 here, but going out and doing drugs or drinking alcohol while taking care of your children is not the answer. If you want to do those things that's your business but don't do it around your kids or be under the influence of it while taking care of your children. Then today while visiting with my sister in law I heard an awful story about two parents whose child died of starvation. The parents said that they sometimes forgot to feed their daughter bc of the late shifts they worked (http://www.kswo.com/story/18717641/oklahoma-couple-remains-jailed-after-baby-dies) and that they smoke pot. First off how do you forget to feed your child. I'm sorry but a child isn't going to die of starvation if you sometimes forget to feed them. The father is the one who worked and made the comment about forgetting to feed his daughter so what about the mother. Why wasn't she feeding the child. Here again is another parent blaming their drug use for their neglect. Last time I heard when you smoke pot you get the munchies so you would think if they could remember to eat then they should remember to feed their child. Then today as I was on facebook one of my friends shared the article about the mom who took her toddler out of their carseat so she could use it to secure a can of gasoline. (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/seat-belt-gas-colorado-woman-132717697.html) Yes you read correctly. Who does these sort of things, I mean this lady had to be a major idiot. #1 you do not keep a can of gasoline in your car like that and if you do you store on the floor not in the seat. #2 If you are going to be stupid enough to strap the gasoline in the car seat why wasn't the older child (14) holding the toddler. #3 WHY IS THE CHILD NOT IN THEIR CARSEAT!!!!! I'm sorry no amount of gasoline is more important than the safety of my children. I'm sorry but:

 

weight loss progress pix

Ok so now that i have lost over 20 lbs I figured I would post some pix to help motivate me and maybe some of you. Currently I am between a size 16 and 18 jeans/shorts. I hope to be a size 12 or smaller by January. I have been working out and am excited to finally see some results. My inches have been dropping faster than the pounds. I do feel as if maybe the pounds aren't dropping as fast because I have been putting on muscle and we all know muscle weighs more than fat. I am on My Fitness Pal (Mommaof3boys2011) and have downloaded the app onto my phone so I can keep track of my calories. What's funny about that is I can't seem to eat enough calories because everyday I get the message saying I'm eating too few calories. I eat when I'm hungry and rarely get hungry, when I do get hungry I get full faster. I tried eating several meals a day but found that I wasn't eating full servings. I'll eventually get all this down pat. As for now I've got some packing to do because we are suppose to be going down to the lake for a week. Hopefully this will be the last summer I go down there as fat Ashley. Feel free to comment below you're weight loss journey. Always remember you are beautiful no matter what. :)

Size 24 No More

Size 24 No More

So back in January when i started this weight loss journey I was 160+ lbs and a tight size 24. These shorts in particular I got last summer. I had to lay down on my bed and suck in my belly as best I could just to zip and button them. I felt horrible. When i wore them I had to wear an oversize shirt (which was a 3x) just to hide my muffin top. These were even tight on my legs now they are so loose I have to push my belly out just to hold them up. Today we decided to go to the lake and have a cookout with some friends. I have a pair of size 18 shorts that I when to wear today and even they were loose on me. Here it is another summer that I don't have any shorts that fit me and for once its a good thing. I would be happy if I was a size 10 or even 12 by our cruise in January and I would absolutely LOVE it if I was in the single digits. Over the last few months I have seen the numbers drop but this picture, these shorts have really boost my motivation. I really need to start going to the gym more. I was going everyday and now I'm only going twice a week. I need to push myself harder if I expect to reach my goals. I keep telling myself that I need to find someone to go with me and push me at the gym but what I really NEED is to stop making excuses and just go. I bought the access pass so I would have the excuse of not being able to go during business hours, I even bought 30DS for days that I couldn't make it to the gym, however these things don't do me any good unless I use them. I have 4/5 pairs of work out pants, 6 workout shirts, 2 sports bras, and a brand new pair of NIKE's so I have no excuse. I even have a husband who can stay home with the kids in the evenings so I can't even use that as an excuse. But by the time the day is over I think to myself, if I wasn't so tired I'd go to the gym. Mind you I have no problem going on Zumba night. Okay there is the fact that going by myself that late can be scarey but I have even had people offer to go with me. I keep saying I want to lose all this weight but all my actions don't reflect that. Like I mentioned before I use the excuse that I'm tired, well maybe if I didn't stay up until all hours of the night and got a good nights rest, then maybe just maybe I will have the energy to go. On that note since it is 2 am I am off to bed...hopefully I can shut my brain off and get some sleep. Good Night.

Yoga+Zumba+Ry Oh My

So my older boys left for Checotah today which means I only have Ry home with me the next two weeks. Normally on Thursday nights I wait for Clayton to get home and then go to Zumba, however with his new later schedule I haven't been able to go. Well today one of the most entertaining ladies from class offered to take me, with it being baseball season our class is pretty small so I brought Ry with. Well on Thursdays before the Zumba class there is a Yoga class so I figured I'd try it. I use to do yoga before my oldest was born so it should be easy. Ha! Boy was I wrong, I could barely do any of it. Not to mention halfway through the class Ry started getting fussy and its hard  to keep your balance while holding a fussy 14 month old during the Warrior pose. Well after yoga we had Zumba and at first Ry was doing good and then he started fussing again, so I decided to modify some of my moves to work him into the workout...Oh what a mistake that was because now my whole body hurts and all my muscles feel like they are on fire. Do you feel the burn? Yes I Do.

Yes another T-Mobile Complaint

Ok so i have had T-Mobile for over a year, when I signed up I got the Motorola Defy. It seemed like the perfect phone for a mom of 3. Water resistant, dust proof and durable, hell johnny has used it as an airplane and didn't mess it up. However, over the last year I have replaced the device over 10 times. Most of the issues had to do with the screen freezing up. Well now along with the screen freezing it likes to reboot itself on its own. I'll be in the middle of a call and it will reboot, completely lose the call and everything. Not to mention how it likes to re-call a person as I'm on the phone with them. So for this month the battery started acting up the phone wouldn't hold a charge the battery had no damage and after jumping threw hoops they sent me a new battery, great until I received it and it was FOR THE WRONG PHONE! So then they send me a new one and two days later my phone is up and running again. Until, its started re-booting itself, so T-Mobile sends me out yet another DEFY. I put the new battery, SIM, and SD card in it and after 5 min it starts REBOOTING!!! SERIOUSLY ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!!!!So I'm on the phone with T-Mobile AGAIN and this time she has me take out the SD CARD and do a master reset. She tells me to leave the card out for 3 days and if it doesn't reboot then that means its the cards fault if it reboots I'm to call back. Well of course it reboots and so I call them AGAIN. After talking with the 1st person they transfer me to tech support who informs me that since I have had so many issues with the DEFY I needed to call Motorola and see if they can get me a working device or a completely different Motorola device. Ok fine by this point I have been on the phone with them for over an hour and just want to get this fixed. So I call Motorola just to find out they closed 30 min earlier!!! SERIOUSLY GIVE ME A FREAKING BREAK!!! I have been pretty much without my phone for about a month now. I am so frustrated if Motorola tells me I need to call T-Mobile back to get a replacement I'm asking for a supervisor right away. You know whats even more messed up is that my phone is suppose to be better than Clayton's Gravity Smart and yet he hasn't had a single technical issue what the HELL is up with that. Ugh I need a drink!!!!!!

Update and Weight Loss Journey

Okay so a lot has happened. Ry has grown up so much he is now 13 months walking and starting to talk. Johnny and Xavie are out of school for the summer and whew what a year. Our cat Checkers had her 1st (and last litter) 5 kittens in all however one has recently passed away. We got a puppy she is a pit mix we have named her Princess. Also we are going on a Cruise to the Caribbean on January 27th!!! I'm so excited because it will be our first cruise and we are going with out the kids. In preparation for this I am on a mission to lose some weight and get bikini ready. I have joined the local gym and have started taking Zumba classes (which I absolutely love). Our whole household has even started to eat healthier. So far I have lost a little over 20 lbs. I am going to start keeping a weight loss/gain blog to help keep myself motivated. I am including a ticker that shows how many pounds I have to go to reach my goal of 165lbs. I would like to reach this goal by thanksgiving and then any extra weight loss after that could be a bonus. Today I weigh 241.8 lbs. I started at 262.5lbs. so this is a big accomplishment. I did plateau for a few months where i was gaining or loosing. January I had lost 15 lbs however in February I had gained all of it back. for the both March and April I was stuck at 250-251 lbs. So that was pretty discouraging. Then I crunched some numbers and realized if I was going to reach my goal by November i would have to lose between 2.5-3 lbs a week. A WEEK!!! I was having issues loosing just one lb a month. So that was a major reality check. I have started taking Acia Berry along with flaxseed (which my mother-in-law told me about), I am also going to try to hit the the gym at least 5 times a week as well. One of the girls that I do Zumba with has offered to go with me at night a few nights a week so that will help. When my hubby was working nights I would go every morning after I dropped the kids off at school. Then when he started on days I was going once a week in the mornings (his day off) and twice a week at night for Zumba. Then once the kids got out of school I was only going on Zumba nights (twice a week). Well then my hubby's schedule changed and he started getting off work later so that left just one night a week. So hopefully with having a workout partner I'll go more, after all I can't let her down right. I will be posting pictures every month of my weight loss journey maybe this way it will help me see the difference. Well the baby is up and my 3yr old just spilled uncooked spaghetti noodles all over the floor so I gotta go now. Will post soon, bye for now.

Fruit and nut trail mix

1 cup each
Dried strawberries
Dried bananas
Dried Cranberries
Peanuts
Chocolate Covered Raisins

Mix all in a large bowl or gallon size bag. Divide mixture into different containers/baggies and enjoy.

I send this to work with my husband and it helps give him energy to make it through the night. I eat it to give me energy before I work out.