Scarlett made these superhero accessories in kindergarten.  She goes to centers right before getting on the bus.  She's made these a couple days in a row. She's very creative and did this on her own, bracelets and the belt.  So cute. 

I started working with a bodybuilding coach about a week ago.  I hired her to help get me ready for a show.  She says I could be ready for the Excalibur show in Charleston by August.  I'm training for physique.  (Bodybuilding has categories: bodybuilding, physique, figure, fitness and bikini, in order from hardest and most vascular to softest.)  I've always been pretty muscular so she thinks physique is a good fit for me.  I started my new diet about a week ago.  I eat very specific foods and very specific amounts of food (I actually bought a food scale) every 3 hours.  I started early morning cardio sessions.  I get up at 4:45 and do 45 minutes of low intensity cardio on my bike in the garage during the week.  I get one meal a week to eat whatever I want, I have 30 minutes.  Last night we went to a sandwich and ice cream shop and I got a Reuben sandwich and fries.  It was delicious!  Followed it up with a scoop of pistachio ice cream.

I'm excited to start on this new journey and try something I've wanted to do since I was a teenager.  I was a little nervous and anxious the night that I hired her.  Kept wondering what in the world I'd done.  I feel better about it now.  Still not 100% sure that I will do a show but I'm going to prepare like I am competing.

One of the girls shut the door yesterday.  Nadia scooted over and peeked out of the window.  Cute!  She has 6 teeth!  Such a snaggly, cute little mouth.  She's been congested and drooly with the constant teething the last 2 months.  Poor baby.  She crawls but prefers to army crawl on her belly.

The girls had Dr. Seuss week at school.  Friday was their hat parade.  Chloe picked Green Eggs and Ham.  She put some cut outs all over a chef hat that we have.  Scarlett's class did the ABC Book.  She had the letter F.  We decorated her hat with "f" words, fluff, feathers and flowers.  I crocheted the flowers.  They had a fun week.

Here's a better pic of Scar's hat.  I copied an F from an online list of Dr. Seuss ABC's I found.  The f looked like the fox from Fox in socks.  I was proud of myself.  I crocheted the flowers on her hat.

This week was pretty slow.  Hopefully everyone remembered to set their clocks forward last night.

 

 

 This was from a couple of weeks ago.  Random selfie with my little girls.

I just got my hair cut and high/low lighted.  Took another selfie.  Seems like I take a lot of these. 

Not much happened since last week.  No real pictures to post other than these 2.  I set up a consultation with a bodybuilding coach for later this week.  This blog could turn into my training blog.  I could do that for power lifting anyway.  I'm not sure my max for the lifts, but last week I did the following:
Squats- final set of 4 @ 155#
Bench- final set of 4 @ 145# (had a little help on last 2)
Dead lift- final set of 4 @ 195#
Not too bad considering I had hand surgery last month.  I taught yoga yesterday and was able to do high planks and hold crow pose.  January 5th I had carpal tunnel surgery.  Hand is recovering nicely.  Squats are clearly my very weak point.  Kind of ridiculous when I can bench just about what I squat.
I may start posting pictures.  I get really tired of "fit selfie porn" on facebook.  So anything I post I'll wear a tank top and shorts.  I'm also getting back into Olympic lifting (clean and jerk, cleans and snatches).  I'm working with a trainer right now who's helping me a lot.  I've had to be more careful with my diet.  After my first 3 kids I did triathlons and lots of running.  I could pretty much eat whatever I wanted since I was working out constantly.  It's different now.  I stopped running due to the bursitis.  Weight lifting doesn't exactly melt away the fat.  I know that it enables me to burn more calories at rest but I wasn't losing baby weight.  Very depressing.  I am tired of people telling me weight is harder to lose now that I'm older.  Thanks a lot!  Nadia's birthday is arriving quickly and I'm determined to lose the weight by her first year.  Doesn't have to be all of it but at least within 10 pounds.  I've started eating 5-6 meals a day: breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, midafternoon snack, dinner then a casein protein shake before bed.  So I'm eating about every 2-3 hours.  Lots of protein!  In the last month and a half I've lost 11 pounds.  My plan's working so far.  I want to lose body fat but build muscle so I'm okay with being not quite all the way back to pre baby weight.  I prepare my lunches ahead of time, once a week.  My favorite is 1/2 of a sweet potato (depending on size) with veggies (like a twice baked potato- I hollow out the insides and fill it with different veggies and black beans) and a chicken breast.
On another note- 4 kids is wearing me out.  I won't get too personal on here (I save that for my own journal).  I get 1 or 2 squared away and there's 2 more to deal with.  It's exhausting and incredibly irritating.
I will update weekly, maybe more. 

Me working on hang cleans, power cleans and dead lifts.  It was 95#.  Trying to perfect the hip bump and figure out my hand placement.  My elbows do weird things but I'll figure it out.  It's fun!  That's my trainer, Corey, in the background.  He keeps telling me to be "violent" with the lifts.  I tell him "I'm a good Mormon girl, I'm not violent".  Trying to work on explosive movement.

I'm back!

Here are some random pics from the last few months.  I want to get back to regular blogging.  Getting really tired of Facebook.  I'd rather spend time on my blog so that those people who are close to me can see my family and find out what's going on.  Hope you're all doing well!

 

Me with Jenn Thompson, the best female bench presser in the world, pound for pound.  She was at my powerlifting meet.  I was so excited.  She was even a judge on one of my lifts!

Don't be jealous of my powerlifting uniform.  It's super hot!

 Scarlett and her Minnie hat.  I'm getting into crocheting.  She loves her hat!

 My babies!

My tiny baby.  First time in the bucket swing.

 A few days before Christmas the girls and I did a cocoa 5k.  Don't know why I thought it was a good idea.  We did a neighborhood 5k in September which was a total disaster.  Guess it's like childbirth, you forget how tough it is and decide to do it again.  Shortly after we started (like, 10 steps into the race) Scarlett's legs starting hurting.  Chloe wanted to run, Scar wanted to move at a snail's pace.  It was cold and wet.  Little girls started screaming.  I'm recovering from ischial bursitis (butt pain basically) so I couldn't run even if I wanted to.  (It's better now, thankfully.)  We were deader than dead last.  The cop car was right on our heels.  At the end some race people helped me.  I held Nadia, despite the rain and cold.  She was happier a little cold but being held than warm and dry in the stroller.  5k was a disaster but the cocoa at the end was delicious!!  I told Scar she doesn't have to do another one.  Although that may change.  We got a really cool Nike sweatshirt for the race.

 December 23rd my dad passed away.  He hasn't taken care of himself so we weren't surprised.  That being said it has been really, really hard.  Makes me so sad and I miss him so much.  His birthday is September 29, same as Chloe's.  So it will always be a special day to me.  This is a pic we took after the memorial service.  The older couple to my right are from dad's hometown, Joliet, IL.  Neil is my dad's cousin.  He always looked up to my dad.  It was fun meeting family.  I don't know dad's side of the family very well.  This was the worst Christmas I've ever had.  Couldn't get into the Christmas spirit.  On top of my dad's passing, I had a sinus infection.  Trevor was able to take a day off of work before his weekend off so that I could go to the service alone.  I would've liked him to come with me but it was easier if he stayed with the girls so I could go alone.  Worst Christmas ever.  Then I spoke at his service.  I was glad I was able to speak.

Me and my sisters after the service.

 Scarlett had some crazy static hair after playing on the trampoline.

 Juliet's new favorite thing to do.  Climb into Nadia's toy.  Thing is- she can't get out of it.  So she screams "all done" until someone saves her.

Chloe's crocheted Hello Kitty hat made by moi.

After dad's passing it was nice to have some good news.  My brother and his wife had their first baby, Aaron James.  He was born Jan. 10.  We went to visit last weekend.  Chloe loved holding him.  Several of the cousins were born really close together.  Nathan, Feb- 2014, Nadia- May 2014, AJ- Jan 2015.  My sister is having a baby girl in May of this year.  They'll have a fun time together when they're older.

Sassafras Juliet at my bro's house in NC.

While we were visiting my bro he took us to his work.  He has the awesome job of being a medic.  We got to see the ambulances and go inside the station.  Here's a selfie of Nadia and I.  When he pushed the button to lower the ambulance so we could get in, Juliet freaked out.  She wouldn't go in.  When we looked at the front she sat in the backseat with me.  We got to push the sirens.  That was fun.  He works for Mecklenburg EMS.  Way to go little bro!

Chloe taking a selfie with Scar.

Got this cute fish suit at the exchange.  She was so excited and couldn't wait for summer.

   Things have been rough the last few months. I'm sure they'll get better.  Trevor has a really difficult work schedule.  He's on rotating shift work.  It's really annoying.  At the end of the year he will be finished as shift engineer at prototype and be able to go to school to get a Master's.  He'll have a year to finish school then he will go to SOAC (submarine officer's advance course) in CT for 6 months.  After that it's back to sea duty.
    Having 4 kids has completely rocked my world.  I didn't think it would be as hard as it's been. 
   I've gotten back into weight lifting, more specifically powerlifting, which is great fun.  One day maybe I'll decide to really follow my dream and compete as a bodybuilder.  I hope all my friends are doing well wherever you are.

Pictures

 

Holy cow, it's been almost 2 years since my last post.  I was doing really well, posting every week.  But that was a while ago.  I recently got the girls photos done, like last week.  Here are my beauties.

 

 

Our newest addition:  Nadia Catherine.  She's such a sweetie.

Love this picture of Juliet.  It was so hot and humid.  This was towards the end of the session and we were all glistening.

 

Chloe has perfected the cartwheel.

 

Hope all my friends everywhere are doing well.  I miss checking blogs and blogging myself!