All posts by Anne Younger

Anne is a 30-something full-time SAHM mom of 5 ranging from 3 to 17 and grandma of 1 who resides in Ashwaubenon (Green Bay) Wisconsin. She started blogging in 2008 as a way to regain her sanity. She enjoys coffee, chocolate, cheeseburgers and vodka along with spending time with her husband and kids.

Dropping the baby weight and MORE!

Before I became pregnant with Ellie, I was headed in the right direction with my weight loss.  I kicked off 2011 with the plan of taking back control of my life and losing weight and getting healthy.  I was doing great, I had lost almost 30 pounds and then boom……we found out I was pregnant with Ellie.  Needless to say that was the end of my weight loss for the next 36 weeks.

Goodbye weight loss journey.

Hello healthy pregnancy weight gain.

Yes, this pregnancy I managed to keep my weight gain to a minimum and only gained 17 pounds.

Yay me!

This time around I was more cautious about what I was eating and how much of it I was consuming.  I didn’t want to end another pregnancy down and depressed and struggling to lose weight once again.

This time, I did it right.

I gained 17 pounds in the 36 weeks I was pregnant.

In the past month since Ellie was born, I have lost 42.

I don’t know how I have done it, but I did.

Well, I know that 6 pounds 2 ounces was Ellie, approximately 2 pounds was the placenta, another 2 pounds each for the amniotic fluid, uterus and maternal breast tissue. There is also the approximate 4 pounds of maternal blood and another 4 pounds of fluids in the maternal tissue plus another 7 pounds of maternal fat and nutrient stores.  All of that adds up to 29.2 pounds and then there is the added benefit that I am exclusively breastfeeding Ellie.

So yeah, I’ve lost 42 pounds in 1 month.

I couldn’t be happier.

Now I just need to lose at least 130 more and then I will be happy!

I can do it.

I am on the right track.

Now I just need to wait until my check up in a week and a half so I get the okay to start exercising on a regular basis again!

Here’s hoping I can stay on the right path this year!

(P.S. Did I mention that on December 24th, 2011 I celebrated 1 year of being smoke free???!!!)

Get Amberen deals on Twitter
Like Amberen on Facebook.

Educate Yourself on Your Vision

In our house a new year means a trip to the eye doctor. So far the Alex has been in for his annual exam and Zack went in for his exam last night.

Last night was truly an eye opening experience for us.

At his exam last night, Zack, who will be 13 next month, learned that because of his high use of electronic devices such as his Nook, iPod Touch and netbook, his eye muscles have started to get lazy since these are all objects that are usually help closer to the face. With this new discovery we learned that when Zack looks at things further away the muscles in his eyes are not responding therefore meaning that my almost 13 year old son now has to wear bi-focals for the next few months in hopes that this problem will be corrected.

Never in a million years did I think my child would need bi-focals before I did!!

Since meeting with the eye doctor I have done my best to educate myself on the different lenses and vision correction needs thanks to Zeiss educational tools. This site gives you all of the tools you need so you know the facts about vision and lenses, how to select the right eye doctor for your family, questions to ask at your next eye appointment and facts you should know about age-related vision changes.

We are hopeful that by taking the things we learned along with an early diagnosis from Zack’s eye doctor that we will be able to correct this problem with his lazy eye muscles within a few months.

I can tell you that we learned a valuable lesson and have put a lot of limits on the kids using their electronic devices now in addition to our own!

Disclaimer: I was compensated for this post on behalf of MomSelect and Zeiss in exchange for my complete and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Today Is My Due Date 1-12-12

Hard to believe that today is Baby Ellie’s due date and she’ll be 1 month old on the 17th.
I’m still adjusting to the whole thing.
Every day since she was born I look at her in amazement and say this is crazy….you’re not even supposed to be here yet.
Well, after today I will not be able to say that anymore.
We have arrived at her due date and I am thrilled that we have already had almost a month with her.
She is wonderful, beautiful and truly amazing not to mention thriving!
So, even though she was due today, we wouldn’t trade the last month for anything!

Got Dental Insurance?

I know that going to the dentist can be a very, very expensive trip.
I have unfortunately been in the position before when I did not have dental insurance and had to pay completely out of my own pocket for dental work. It was far from cheap.
After that trip to the dentist I picked up private dental insurance to help curb the costs of any future work I would need done.
Thanks to this alternative coverage I was able to save over 50%!
Places like DentalPlans.com offer you over 30+ discount dental plans to choose from at an affordable cost and allow you to save on all of your dental work.
I kept my private dental plan for over a year until I married the Alex and was able to be added to his dental insurance through his employer but was grateful that I had picked up the alternative dental coverage to help me while I needed it.
I know there are a lot of people out there who are in the same boat that I was and do not realize there are other options out there and they are affordable. DentalPlans.com is a great source to search for the coverage you need and even allows you to find both a plan and a dentist in your area and helps you find the best plan to suit your needs!