Happy Birthday Buddy!

For Ri's birthday this year, we had a small gathering of people at our house. It started out as just family, but I kept inviting people... it ended up being about 20ish peeps. It was awesome! 

Pete helped me get the menu setup. Most of the dishes we created were pulled off of Pinterest (I have a serious addiction to that site).

Rea build Ri's donut tower cake... She was hysterical. I gave her a box of 12 donuts and a platter. She said, "Ok. First I have to build a circle base. Then the next layer on top of my base. Finally, the 2 sprinkle donuts on top." It was like listening to a miniature girl version of my father. =)

On behalf of Ri, I would like to thank all of our family and friends who celebrated Ri's birthday with us (both on this night and last Sunday at lunch). We are very blessed. 

One Week In, Three Left

So, Shane and I have survived (barely) the first week of the HCG diet.

It was rough. There were quite a few moments when I had to call friends who have survived and complain, whine, and yell at them about how much I just want to eat anything! My 3 greatest friends (and crazy hubby) have spent the past week talking me down from the quitter's ledge.

I found a cookbook of HCG foods and downloaded it to my iPad. It has helped tremendously. The recipes that I had been trying to make (I showed a pic in my last entry) were too yucky to want. I do look at it though to get ideas about which spices, sauces and stuff I can use in my cooking.

This morning when we woke up, we got on the scale. I was officially down 8 pounds! And Shane is down 10.5 pounds! Doesn't it stink that guys lose weight faster than we do? Oh well, I am not far behind.

I Want to Chew My Arm Off... Or Eat EVERYTHING In My Kitchen

Dieting sucks.

Shane and I have each gained as much weight as Rea has in the past 4 years. So, this year we decided to be super cliche and make "weight loss" our New Year's Resolution.

A bunch of our friends have been very successful on the HCG diet. So we jumped on that train and began the drops earlier this week.

For those who don't know, on the HCG diet you take hormone supplements and eat very few calories each day. This lasts for between 23 and 40 days, personal choice. The first two days on the drops you are instructed to eat A LOT. So we did, well according to some friends we didn't eat enough. We decided to use our Cheesecake Factory gift cards and chow down. Shane got "heaven between two buns" (Mac & Cheese burger) and I went with the fish tacos.

Shane actually let me have two bites of his burger... it was AMAZING! The fish tacos? Not so much. Don't bother ever ordering them. There was hardly a fillet between all four tacos. I was seriously disappointed.

The Adam's Peanut Butter Cheesecake made up for it. =)

Anyway, we are really giving this weight loss thing our best efforts. I followed a recipe in our HCG cookbook last night for Crab Bisque. Even though we were STARVING, it was inedible. Blah. SOOOO gross!

This was lunch. With every bite I would say "35 pounds" (that's my goal). 

The horrifying crab bisque. Just thinking of it is starting to turn my stomach. 

I am excited to report that after 4 days on the diet, I am 2.5 lbs closer to my goal and Shane is 4.5 lbs smaller. =)

Winter Break Comes to a Close...

January started out a little rocky for us. Rea and Ri woke up in a foul mood. It was one of those days that NOTHING was accomplished before noon. Ri cried constantly, wiped his dripping nose all over me, threw things, yelled at the TV, yelled at Rea, yelled at me, and stood at the door crying for his Mammie (Grammie). Oy.

Things calmed down eventually, and we were able to scoot out to the park. The weather was beautiful - a little warm, but there was a nice breeze at the park we went to.

And while Ri napped, Rea and I played Don't Break the Ice. =)

** I started this entry on Jan 1, but obviously I didn't publish it then. Since beginning this blog entry, Rea went back to school. Ri and I miss her terribly.

Happy New Year!