***Lion Cub Mommies-Back In Action!***

[Shiv]

WOWZERS Cleck!!! You look amazing! You have a flat tummy and your thighs have slimmed down noticeably even comapring to the last photo! Yikes you are hot

Have you by any chance taken photos of your face every 10lb loss as well? I'd love to see the difference. I carry weight on my face and chin really easily so when I lose weight I like to see my face slim down too.

Serioulsy though, well done, it must have taken some darned determination to stick at this weight loss when it was just you looking after Emma. I know when David isn't here I eat rubbish to make myself better. I bet Corey is so proud of you. Iknow it sounds silly as I don't *really* know you, but I am proud of you too. And when I have had this baby and am ready to start slimming down again I am going ot be asking for your help.

By the way you look slimmer than I do when I am 135lbs

 

[cleckner04]

Aww thanks!! I'm proud of myself!! Although I got really angry with DH two nights ago because he stepped on the scale and now weighs 174 lbs. I HATE weighing more than him.

No I didn't take any of my face but you are right, I probably should've to see the difference. I think my face is still too chubby. I need to learn some facial exercises.

135 lbs is TINY though! I wouldn't even dream of being that weight ever in my life. I'd feel like a giant next to you I'm sure. I always feel like a giant next to girls that are shorter. Because I may be slimming down but I'm still 'big boned'.

 

[Shiv]

Well I am a short arse and I weigh no where near 135lbs anymore

how tall is Corey? Can you not fiddle with the scales just before he uses them so it shows he has put on 20lbs

 

[cleckner04]

He's the exact same height as me. And it's a digital scale so I think there's no way of messing with him.


I just calculated my bmi and it's now 28.9 so I've lost 7.6 bmi points! That's pretty great. And I've lost 21% of my body weight. That's kinda shocking. I've lost 2 Emmas now because she's only 24-25 lbs.

 

[Shiv]

wow you've lost nearly a quater of yourself - eek!

 

[jelr]

OMG Cleck you look absolutely so so so amazing, you can really see a massive difference in the new photo again, you have slimmed down all over. I am 135.5lbs and I dont have as flat as stomach as that - I really am a short arse though at only 5ft 2inches and you really see every lb on me

I'm so glad you are proud of yourself because that is one heck of an acheivement losing over 50lbs - I'm am so proud of you too - My DH is nearly always lighter than me so I know how annoying it is and he eats loads of crap which is even more annoying as he can eat and eat and not put it on grrrrr - that is where I put on all my weight originally because when I met him I thought I could eat the same and soon realised that I couldn't when I was 3stone heavier

Have you loads of clothes that you used to wear that fit you now or did you fling them out, I'm too tight to thrown any of mine out and love when I lose weight and it feels like I have been on a shopping spree, without spending money or having the hassle of trying on clothes in shops

Well the steak turned out really well in the slow cooker, but the only thing was because I put in spuds as well I had to cover with stock so the steak was more braised than if you had done it in the oven or on the pan, so I'm thinking I might root my steamer out and maybe put it on a timer if I'm working and just do the steak in the slow cooker as it will be a little different as we will have the braised steak effect when doing stews and stuff, but I'm really pleased with it and am looking forward to firing stuff into it and experimenting

Shiv is it this weekend that you have your visitors - does David have to work after?

Spidey: dont forget those pics of your hair, I can't wait to see it.

 

[cleckner04]

I do still have my old clothes. I was never in a 16 with jeans though so I had to buy new. Because when I was this size I was wearing smaller maternity jeans during my first pregnancy. But those are all packed away now. I'm only in non-maternity bottoms now. And I've unpacked a bunch of shirts that were pre-baby. Not all fit yet but a lot do again. I did buy a few new tops but not a lot. It really is nice to not have to re-buy stuff. I have size 8 stuff that I freaking just know I will never fit again so I think I may start listing them for sale on craigslist. Which makes me sad because I love all of those jeans but when I hold them up to my body now, they are TINY. And I'm not.


Call me crazy but I've started packing already too. Money is really tight right now trying to save for the big move. Which is why I want to get an early start on it so I can sort through and sell off some stuff. We bought 9 moving boxes yesterday. 3 small, 3 medium, and 3 large sizes. Just to start us off IYKWIM. So far I've packed one large box full of fabric from my craft room. I'll have to fill another box with my sewing stuff because the large box is full already just with fabric. And I am in the middle of packing a small box with books but I need that packing paper to stuff in the open spaces so they aren't moving around getting damaged. I'm selling 5 of my books off. Pregnancy and baby related ones. I figure I don't really need them anymore because I've done it all before and if I have questions I have BnB for advice. I even went as far as weighing the box on my scale to make sure it's not over the weight limit for the box. I LOVE packing and moving. It's like an organizers dream because I get to reorganize a new place and have fun sorting through it all to pack in the first place.

 

[spidey]

Woooo Cleck, you are a HOT MOMMA!!! You seriously carry your weight well- if I had to guess I would say you were 145 pounds. I love that polka dot bra too Every 10 pounds makes a huge difference so I can't imagine how skinny you'll be once you drop to 180. I completely understand the pleasure you get from packing

jelr- I hope you can find some relief from your mid month craziness. I use to have bad pms, but my craziness and paranoia peaked 2 days before AF arrived. DH was lucky to survive each month

slow cookers- supposedly browning the meat adds more flavor, but I bet you don't need to brown things first. Its another huge pot to wash and it takes away from the convenience of using a crock pot. jelr- I bet your house smelled sooo good!

my hair- yes, it is cut! I have before pictures and I took after pictures at 5am this morning but they don't do my hair justice so I'm going to re-take them tomorrow before the funeral thing. The only crap thing is the girl who cut my hair is obviously using drugs and I strongly think it's meth. I walked into her house and it wasn't good and my instinct was to run away. DH told me I can't go back and most of me agrees as it wasn't safe- she had 3 strung out guys hanging out there. A small part of me wants to overlook all the dangers for a good haircut, argh!

My work is driving me nuts! Last March my boss fired me for a day, and then she fired me again in December the day before Christmas break (because she turned crazy) Then she quit due to her craziness and I was told I would lose my job this February. Then I was told I would lose it at the end of September. Yesterday I was told that no matter what the budget was I would keep my job past September. AND...today I was told there was NO WAY they could keep me past September. I've been there 10 years and have tons of publications and it's just so unfair. I guess it finally got to me today Next week they will probably tell me I can stay again just to f*ck with me. I seriously feel like going postal (do you UK girls know what going postal means or is that a US thing??) haha, sorry for the rant!

 

[spidey]

Before Hair

Spoiler

https://www.razortoe.com/share/hair/1.jpg
https://www.razortoe.com/share/hair/2.jpg

After Hair

Spoiler

https://www.razortoe.com/share/hair/3.jpg
https://www.razortoe.com/share/hair/4.jpg

What you can't see is in the after pictures the bathroom is totally gutted! There's no toilet or sink. DH made his own wood floor and he's going to install that as well as a smaller sink to fit in that tiny bathroom. I'll post befores and after when thats all done too

 

[Mary Jo]

you went for a radical change then, Spidey! looks great.

well done on the weight-loss Cleck, good work! you look amazing

 

[Shiv]

Spidey - your hair looks great, and not too short so you can still tie it up if you want/need to.

jelr - well I just ordered myself a slow cooker too! I spent far too much on it, but I get bored looking through reviews and just end up buying which ever got good reviees regardless of price. I got a crockpot one, but not the one you can put on the hob (as it got some bad reviews and as we said before it is no different to just using a casserole dish! I also ordered a couple of cookbooks too.

how did your birthday night out go? Also how did your anniversary go, did Jim like his present

MJ - how is your house sale/purchase preogressing? We still haven't even had a viewing on ours!

Well we had friends down this weekend and luckily David didn't have to work. It was good fun but i am exhauseted now. Will you allow me to have a petty rant please? The girl who came (i am more friends with her husband) is 19 weeks pregnant and has a tiny bump, but she is acting like she is disabled or something. She makes her husband do EVERYTHING for her, even tie her shoe laces The poor guy barely got to sit down! I just kept laughing as she sent him from task to task. I know that later in pregnancy it does get hard to tie your laces, but not at 19 weeks, boy is she in for a shock! Apparently she had to make him clean the bath the otherday because she couldn't bend over enough to do it I sure hope David realises how lucky he is!

 

[jelr]

Shiv: You are quite entitled to have a rant, sure that is what here is for, I have had enough of them lately and I dont blame you for ranting, that would drive me bonkers, you would feel like saying ffs get up and get on with it - I mean if she was 39 or even 29 weeks maybe but not at 19 :haha; - I'm very different than that though and know where Natasha gets her independance from as I hate not being able to do things for myself and have had so many rows with DH over the years when my arthritis has been bad because I wont ask for help

No my birthday night out is not until next weekend, DH and I just went out for dinner for our anniversary and yes he LOVED his pressie - mind you it was nearly a disaster as I dont know what the sizes are about. I am now back to a UK size 10 to 12 in a bottoms and always a 12 on top to fit my D cup chest in so I would have though medium in a corset, but aired on the side of caution and got a large and let me tell you I didn't think it was going to fasten and you never saw the amount of sucking in I had to do to fasten it - I would hate to see what size you would have to be to wear the extra small

Yeah I looked at the crockpot one with the inside that goes on the hob and it was around the same price as what I paid for mine but the reviews put me off. Be warned though most of the cooks books all ask you to do everything up to boil, but it is still handy to have them to get ideas on what you can do and timings and things and I intend to use them for the recipies also but just to lob it all in and hope for the best

I also have rooted my steamer out and am going to maybe do meat or chicken on its own in the crock pot too and spuds and veg into the steamer on timer so that we are not eating cassarole type dinners the whole time, so hopefully that will work when I'm back to work in September too and we can come home to a lovely cooked dinner

Spidey: Easy to know Af is gone as you dont have a shaven head or really short hair - I'm glad though as I really like the lenght of your hair and think the cut has really tidied it all up and gives it more shape and makes it look really healthy. That would have scared me in the hairdressers, I dont think I would be going back either tbh. Did you say she had a child or was that my imagination??

That is a realy pain with your job, it is horrible to not know one way or another what your future holds, I relaly do sympathise as I know when we didn't know whether DH's job there or not at the start I was gone out of my mind. Nope we dont have postal in Ireland anyway, what is it?

Cleck: That is great that you have got a whole lot of new clothes to wear without having to buy much - I have also thrown out some of my smaller sized jeans as I know I will never fit them again - I think you are right doing the packing as you are going along as it will be less stressful, although I have to say I hate moving and packing.

Have you and DH done any of your usual day trips over the weekend?

Hey MJ - Yeah I hope the house sale is moving along nicely.

Only 2 weeks hopefully left in work, all classes will be finished this week and it is just how long it takes me to do any paperwork then but I have been getting ahead so 1 week should definitely do it and I have everything set up for September so again a week before the classes are back will do it so I wont be back until the 6th of September so for once I will actually have 8 weeks off - I can't wait to have a while two months at home with Natasha. I really hope the weather is fine so we can get loads of trips to the beach and days out in the garden

 

[spidey]

thanks for the hair compliments It doesn't look too drastic but I can really feel the change.

Shiv, LOL about the pregnant girl having her DH as her personal servant You'll have to arrange another visit closer to her due date to see what she has her DH doing then- perhaps wiping her butt

jelr and Shiv- you'll have to share any good slow cooker recipes! I don't have one, but I have a cast iron dutch oven that I slow cook in on the stove top.

jelr- thats going to be great having 2 months off! I saw on FB you were feeling better so I'm glad your crazy ovulating hormones have settled down

oh, and going postal is when you go into work and go psycho and kill a bunch of coworkers There were a bunch of highly publicized work place shootings in post offices from disgruntled postal workers so thats how it got the name.

Kira ate tons of dried cherries right before bed so I hope we don't have a 2am poop! This past week I think she had a growth spurt because she seems so much taller and much more grown up. My dad sees her every Friday and he even said she seemed different. Oh, and Cleckner, Kira got her toenails painted for the first time too. She saw me painting mine and sat down and stuck out her feet and insisted I paint hers too. She actually held still! She's been looking at her toes all weekend and smiling

 

[jelr]

ha ha postal was so different than I thought it would be - I thought it was somewhere to compain or like a tribunal over here and was going to tell you to go for it - maybe not now that I actually know what it is

Will defo share some recipies when I find some nice ones

yeah those mad hormones are gone thanks god, and had a lovely birthday. We more celebrated it on Sunday at home because of work yesterday and it was so lovely to hear Natasha sing happy birthday to mammy - although she really didn't understand and just wanted to blow out candles but it still melted my heart to hear it - My friend and her boyfriend called last night and we had a couple of glasses of wine and a take away and it was lovely to catch up and my brother is coming home from London for the wedding this weekend and will be home in time to come out to dinner with us so really looking forward to spending some time with him. Other than that is is all work and work this week - but it is so good to be getting near the finish line, Fingers crossed I will be finished next week

 

[Mary Jo]

glad you had a lovely birthday, Jean!

re the pregnant woman, jesus, more fool her husband for going along with all the slavery! (or am I just jealous? Chris likes to tell me what not to do but what not to do doesn't include all the housework and shopping, and it definitely doesn't include looking after Adam and myself!)

re our flat sale... gah. gah. I am really stressed about it. on our purchase, we're ready to complete. on my sale - gah. turns out there are some major works afoot on the building. (they were afoot when we were selling before, when it fell through, only the freeholder didn't declare it. this time he decided to.) so I found out this was coming up but we were waiting for the freeholder to respond officially (to my solicitor) to some questions that would have revealed the news to our buyer. well, rather than respond in that way he has responded by issuing formal written notice of major works, which we received today. I have forwarded it all to my solicitor and informed our estate agent, who has told our buyer. the problem is not so much the works but that the freeholder won't be drawn on the costs, and that's a concern because even though I have unofficially had the figure £10,000 given to me, of which my flat's share is 25% so £2,500, the buyer, not being given an official estimate, would be forgiven for worrying that it could cost many thousands. for the work that needs doing, it's highly doubtful, but I know I'd be concerned. the agent has now said she doesn't think it's going to be a big problem for the buyer, but we'll see how she feels when she's read the 16 page spec for the work. we are prepared to cut the price because we HAVE to get out of here, my worry is that she'll just pull out.

if it wasn't for that we'd be ready to exchange contracts next week. we'll see what happens. no chance of getting this work delayed (even though nothing is likely to happen till next year) and there won't be a proper estimate on the costs for at least 2 months. our buyer is very very keen... so we are just praying that she isn't hugely put off.

there are loads of reasons why I am insanely furious about all this, but none of them I could write on a publicly accessible forum. once we've completed on the sale I won't hold back and I will vent my spleen. suffice to say, my freeholder can best be described using a four-letter word that begins with a c and rhymes with front.

other than that - which is an enormous source of stress for me and C - things are ok. 24 weeks tomorrow. can't agree on a name for the new baby, we have a short-list of possibilities but I don't love any of them.

 

[spidey]

MJ- you've had the worst luck with selling your place. If your buyer is in love with your place and already has her mind set on living there, she might be willing to move forward despite not knowing exactly how much the repairs will cost or how long everything will take. And perhaps a slightly lower price will help too. I really hope the sale goes through so you can buy your new place and leave this nightmare behind! How has your energy level been recently? Is Adam still getting into trouble or is he giving you a break for the moment? Are you keeping possible baby names to yourself?

jelr- I'm glad your birthday was good! How many brothers do you have?

Just as I predicted, I was told today that I can probably keep my job past September. So irritating No wonder some people go postal

My psychic nips aren't telling me anything. But I expect ovulation to happen sometime next week. Cleckner, when are you due to ovulate?

 

[cleckner04]

I'm just coming off my period so another two weeks before ovulation. Right around when we fly back home to visit for two weeks. Go figure.


MJ- I hope everything ends up going through with the new buyer and you can put it all past you. I've learned its far more stressful trying to sell a house than it was buying one and I thought buying was super stressful when we did it. I can't believe you are 24 weeks pregnant already. I'm sure you'll settle on a name eventually. If I recall, you guys had the same issue with Adam.

jelr- That is so sweet natasha singing happy birthday. I'm glad you had a nice birthday.

spidey- Your hair isn't drastic but I totally can tell the difference. It looks really good. Healthier even. That sounds so sketchy about the girl you went to though. I'm sure you can find a less scandalous person to cut your hair without the druggies hanging around. But I definitely know what you mean about giving up a good hairdresser once you find one.

Shiv- I remember being pregnant the first time and I would get angry about girls treating their husbands like they are supposed to serve each and every request. It's ridiculous. I have a friend similar but won't name names in case she reads this. I'm not very incognito with my username.



I'm in a grumpy mood tonight. I've been packing more and DH has duty so he's been gone all day and night tonight. He called and we were talking about me moving back home and I just keep getting more and more pissed off as the time goes on. At everything really. The way my life has turned out. The fact that we'll be freaking homeless soon. The fact that I am stuck living with his parents while he goes out and sees the world one last time. It just all pisses me off. And we are really tight with money now because we have to save for this move that I don't even want to make. I told DH tonight on the phone that I will probably end up hating him because of all this. Because it is honestly all his fault and he is just bringing us down with him. I ended up hanging up with him angry and told him not to call back tonight because I don't want to deal with him.

 

[Mary Jo]

thanks Spidey and Cleck. I am very very cautiously hopeful. thing is, our buyer is already getting SUCH a bargain. compared to the price we put the flat on the market at back in November, we're selling it to her for 14% less. so she really needs to think about that. for one, she won't get another flat that's as perfect for her (and it really is, she LOVES it, she's a single woman and I don't think she was laying it on thick when she said she loved what we'd done) and at this price. we did need to cut the price because the market dropped, but 10% would have been more realistic. and the difference between a 10% cut and a 14% cut is £6,500. it would be hard on us to cut it further, but if we have to get a sale through then we will. at this point I just want to be away from here. it's all taking so long. and yes, I cannot believe how stressful it's been. just awful. a rollercoaster. compared to when I bought this flat in 1999, I had zero stress (even though I did, and guess who caused it, yep, bingo, the lovely freeholder). but it was a quick purchase. I viewed it for the first time on Oct 30th and moved in on Dec 22nd. 7 weeks. I wish this had been so quick!

my energy has been mixed. it was a bit better since I've been careful about getting iron, and I wasn't needing naps in the day, but then the hot weather messed with it because I wasn't sleeping well at night. hopefully it'll stay a bit cooler, as it is today, and then I can sleep ok at night.

Adam isn't being so bad either, bless him. his naps have also been erratic. he goes up and doesn't sleep even though he looks tired, but he will sleep later if he misses his morning nap. like yesterday, he wouldn't nap, so we went out, just for 15 mins (supposed to be anyway) but on my way out I found this letter with the notice of major works, and rang C to tell him, and he wanted me to take it straight to the main post office and send it to the solicitor. so we ended up being out for a couple of hours. Adam was good, I bought him a sandwich and some fruit and he fell asleep in the pushchair, and stayed asleep while I carried him up and put him in bed and he slept till about 6,30pm (it was about 4 hours). I love long naps!

though we got back and after Adam was in bed I realised there was a flood in the bedroom. I had left the skylight wide open and the rain came on while we were out and so much came in. wooden parquet floor was soaked and black, some of Adam's books are sodden and may be beyond repair... and two teddies were drowned (but coming back to life on the windowsill now, sunbathing). fortunately the floor has dried out and doesn't show signs of flooding. but god, I was scared for a bit! (even though it isn't in good condition and could do with being replaced).

as for names - heh, ok then, just in here!

my favoured name is Luke, but Chris says no, which saddens me because none of the other names feel as right to me. but since it's not my choice 100% I have to accept his veto, and I will respond (and I do!) to most of his choices with mine.

there are 3 names we're tossing around - Euan, Jamie and Joel. right now I prefer Joel, because I have always liked Joseph because I like Joe and Joey, but C doesn't like Joseph, but he does like Joel. so I think, ok, we could call him Joel and I could call him Joey! Euan (or Ewan) I like, but not sure. (this is the name that most people I've mentioned names to prefer.) and Jamie is C's favourite, but there is a Jamie in the family already. not close to me, it's my mum's cousin's grandson (my mum and her cousin are quite close). this boy is James but known as Jamie. I would have Jamie not James. but I am very mixed about it.

on my own shortlist but not approved by C: Duncan (my late uncle, and very much a family name), Evan, Corin, Brady and Jonah. I think of those, other than Luke, Jonah is my favourite. but no go. because Jonah is a New Zealand rugby player. meh.

middle name will probably be David, after my dad (this is C insisting, don't know why, we don't tend to call people after people in our family, though I do like some family names). we'd love to name him after Simon & Garfunkel, but I don't like Paul or Arthur. but I do like Simon and Garfunkel, and would be fine about using either (not both) as a middle name. but C is being funny, he likes Simon as a first name but not a middle, whereas I am the other way round.

Spidey, I knew the phrase "going postal" and understood it meant going a bit mental, but didn't know where it came from! wow. heh. don't blame you for going postal over how you've been messed about with your job. but good news you're not out of a job!

Cleck, sorry you're grumpy. it's a stressful time for you. but it won't always be like this, you have to hang on to that.

 

[Shiv]

I love the name Joel, a lady I have met here has sons called Elias and joel and i love both those names. I also like Jonah. It is really hard picking names, David and I never agree, we have such differing tastes.

Cleck - sorry you are grumpy. Are you upset about moving home in general or just that temporarily you will have to live with your in-laws? Is there no way you could stay in San Diego until COrey gets out of the Navy? I kind of felt the same way about David making us move. I felt i would end up resenting him so much for making me do something i didn't want do. So far though (fingers crossed) I really like it here. I am sure once you get back home and get used to seeing friends and family agian it will seem so much better, especially as you will be able to keep your eyes peeled for a house to buy. Massive hugs to you, but also try not to be too hard on Corey, I am sure he is only trying to do what is best in the long run for his little family

Spidey - I had also heard of going postal, but didn't no the backgroud to it! Can you get them to give you somethign in writing regarding your job? That way at least you would have a little certainty.

MJ -I hoep the lady buys your flat and it can start moving a bit quicker for you. I also hope the weather says cooler!

Well I am off out otnight for dinner with my new "friends", i am a bit nerous as we won't have children to run after and will actually have to talk! David has had to go away for work today and overnight, when he told me I went mental! It is not as if I go our EVER, so he got his mum to come up and babysit, great I can go out, not so great that I have the MiL here for 2 days!

 

[spidey]

Cleckner- I'm sorry you're in a shit mood Do you think it's because you've been doing this all on your own for months and months and now that DH is back you're still on your own and you will continue to basically be a single parent until next summer? It's all very overwhelming to me and I know it would be a huge cause of my own grumpiness. Heck, I can't deal with my DH being away 2 evenings in the same week- it always makes me bitter because it feels like I have so much more responsibility (with the house and Kira) compared to him and he's off having more fun and less worry.

Once you're back home do you think you'll continue looking for houses to buy? Since you're the one who has to live alone for all those months I think you should get the final say at where you live. So if you'd rather stay in California then you should. Or if you want to stay in an apartment back home, then you should.

Cleckner- how long was your luteal phase this month? I hope the vit. B6 is working!

MJ- 4 hour naps are great I really love some of the names you like. Luke is probably my favorite. I think it would be okay to name the baby Jamie because it sounds like that relative is quite distant (and a James anyway). Jonah is a nice name too. You'll have to work on DH to get him to like the names you like I hope you hear soon about the buyer on your house and it's good news (fingers crossed!)