Monthly Measurements

I know that I normally do my monthly measurements on the 2nd of each month, but tomorrow we'll be at church in the morning and a Super Bowl party in the evening, so I knew that I wouldn't have time to do this tomorrow. I still feel like I'm seeing the most difference when looking at the side view, but I can see a small difference from the front and back. I'm so ready to get rid of my "baby belly." It's cute when there's a baby in there; when there's no baby and there's still a "baby belly", it's not so cute!

Since January 2nd, I have lost:
Waist: -1/2 inch
Hips: 0
Thigh: -1/2 inch
Chest: - 1 1/2 inches (really, this is the place that's losing the quickest?!)
Bicep: -1/2 inch
Calf: 0

Urrrggghhh....slow and steady wins the race, right?? Since starting in November, I've lost 10 pounds and 5 inches all over. The great news is that Michel and I bought a treadmill that will be here next weekend! I can run no matter what the weather is outside now :)

Shapin' Up and Slimmin' Down!

I went down 0.6 pounds this week!

For anyone reading this who might be thinking, "She's given up junk food, yet losing a minimal amount of weight, and is happy about it?" Yes, I am! I have always lost weight very slowly, but the upside to that is I gain weight slowly, too. Also, I'm losing weight in a way that truly is a lifestyle change, and not a diet. I have tried doing the newest fad of "clean eating." I just can't commit to it. I need to find a way to lose weight while drinking more coffee than I should, more diet Coke than I should, and eating some processed foods (I know it sounds weird, but I do love Hamburger Helper!). I'm almost 30 (eeek! That's tough to say), I'm a mom, and a wife, and I have to find a way to not feel deprived while taking care of my child, the house, my husband, and myself. Plus, since starting my journey, I have yet to actually gain anything. I take it back, I might have gained weight one week in the beginning. But still, I'm not yo-yoing up and down...it's coming off consistently every week, but slowly.

This Week's Successes:
1. We went to On the Border for dinner one evening. I had 0 chips, and ordered corn tortillas instead of flour (corn is better for you), and only ate half my dinner quesadillas and saved the rest for lunch the next day.
2. I ran 3 miles one day this week, and held a steady 11-minute-mile pace the entire time! This shaved 30 seconds to a minute off my normal average pace! Pre-pregnancy I could run 4-5 miles and hold a pace of 10 minutes per mile, so I'm trying to get back to that. Again, slow and steady wins the race!
3. I worked out hard core this week! I love waking up the next morning, and still being a bit sore, so that I know I did something good for myself :)

Our Friday Fun

This morning I woke up feeling particularly gung-ho to get out of the house and do something. And by "something", I mean something fun! There are three reasons I don't get out more with Audrey:
1.) I'm a homebody by nature. I like staying inside in my pj's, watching TV, and playing with Audrey.
2.) I usually try to make Monday-Friday my "work week". I give myself a list of things to do (clean the house, grocery shop, etc). When you've got to work around a baby's schedule, that list of things takes 10 times longer to accomplish. Plus, I try to make sure I'm doing activities with her that she likes so she doesn't get bored.
3.) It's a LOT of work going out with her! Pack the diaper bag, make sure we have plenty of formula (and I hate having to stop and feed her while we're out. She gets soooo distracted by all the sights and sounds), so I really try and work our errands out to where we'll be home before her next feeding time. Now that she's on a 4-hour feeding schedule, it's a lot easier.

So, as I was feeding her this morning, I had already decided it would be a perfect day to go to Hobby Lobby and buy some stickers to bling out her helmet! I also wanted to go to Mardel to get myself a Bible Study book to go along with my February goal. However, those were errands that would get us out of the house, and I always talk to her as we shop to keep her entertained, but I really wanted something for her. So I looked on the Wylie library homepage (I knew they offered read-alouds for all ages), and that happened to be this morning! We suddenly had something to do! I finished feeding her, got us both dressed and somewhat put together, and we left.

First stop = Hobby Lobby for helmet bling!

Second stop = Mardel (just a short walk away). Here's my study I'll be doing in February:

 There was a nice man helping us in Mardel. He had a very clean-cut beard and mustache. He was talking to Audrey, again, very sweet, about mid 50s or so, and she started crying...crocodile tears-crying!! Facial hair scares her :( She has to get used to my dad every time she sees him which is 1-2 times per month because his facial hair scares her. It's sad, but kind of funny/cute at the same time. I have a feeling next Christmas she'll cry in her Santa pictures!

 Finally, off to the library. Story time is divided into 4 different brackets: Babies & Books (ages 0-12 months),  Toddler Time (1-2 years), Big Kids (3-5 years), and then an All Ages time. Their story times state that each time is very age-appropriate in what books are read, and how they're presented, so I knew this would be something that Audrey would enjoy because it would be geared towards her age level.

Waiting for the library to open!

Audrey looks happier here...selfies are hard with a 4 month old

Each baby got their own copies of the books

We started out following the book Baby Beluga while the song played (which is now permanently stuck in my head). Audrey enjoys helping me turn pages. Then we did a lot of finger plays and rhymes where lots of body movements were included. The lady presenting the story time carefully explained why we were doing what we were doing, how important it is to expose your kids to print and phonological awareness at a young age, so the teacher in me loved hearing that!

Side note: last year when I was teaching preschool, I had 4 out of 7 of my kids who had no idea HOW to look at a book. They didn't know how to hold a book, which way the pages turned, they didn't even care about the pictures, and they had NOTHING else wrong with them aside from being deaf. Parents are the most important part of a baby's development, and I make sure to read to Audrey and point out pictures and help her point to pictures every day. OK, I'm off my soapbox. :) But teaching has probably made me overly sensitive to making sure I expose Audrey to the right things!

I didn't take pictures while we were in story time, but Audrey LOVED it! While we were doing hand motions, I did hers hand-over-hand, and she had a huge grin on her face the entire time. Eventually, she got bored and started eating the book, but the librarian had told us from the get-go if that's what they wanted to do, it was fine, so I let her chew on the book, and it kept her entertained. The librarians also included basic signs of animals that were in the book, and explained how signs help a baby communicate before they have the ability to talk. I can't say enough wonderful things about story time! Once we got home it was time for Audrey to eat, and then she needed a nice, long nap because she had not had one all day due to our day of fun. I ate my lunch and then worked out. Whenever I work out inside, I usually have a "helper" with me. Today was no different :)

That piece of paper he's laying on had my workout written down on it. Do you notice how the rest of the table is empty?? There was plenty of other room to lay down, but noooo...he needed to lay on my paper. He's a stinker sometimes pretty much always.

We had such a fun Friday, and will definitely go back to story time more often! If anybody else knows of fun, free, child-centered things in the Wylie area please let me know :)

Shapin' Up and Slimmin' Down!

This week, I lost 0.2 pounds. This week has been an off week for me (I'm still not eating junk food). There was one day that I took a nap (at 9:45 in the morning!) right after I had put Audrey down. I had planned on working out at that time, but I was soooo tired! I've had a major sweet tooth, and I just haven't had any energy. I know...it makes it sound like I'm pregnant, right? Well, thankfully I'm not (we do want at least one more, but not anytime soon!), but the proof that I'm most definitely not pregnant is what's lead to a week of feeling tired, munchy, and lacking energy. I plan on being MUCH better with everything next week.

Some successes of mine this week:
1. We went to Twisted Root for burgers one day. I got a turkey burger. I really wanted something crunchy on the side, so I asked Michel to stop at a gas station for me and I got a bag of Cheez-Its, ha! Plus, the bag had 3 servings in it, so I counted out one serving, and threw the rest away. We don't normally keep chips or crackers in the house because it's so easy to sit there and munch on them and lose track of how much you've eaten. Snack foods of any kind are my absolute weakness.

Here's to a new week of eating better, and definitely working out better! Hope everyone's enjoying their weekend! Audrey and I are going to get outside and walk and enjoy some much-needed fresh air!

Physical Therapy Eval

Audrey and I had a fun day out today! She had her PT eval at 1:30, and one of my friends works there, so we met up for lunch beforehand. Once again, when I'm eating lunch with a friend, Audrey will cry. As soon as I get her out of her carseat, she is all smiles! She just wants to see the action! I wish I had gotten my camera out quickly because Courtney was holding Audrey at one point, and Audrey just had the biggest smile on her face. It was precious. By the time I got my camera out, the smiles were over (of course!).

Anyways, Audrey had a blast during her PT eval. The therapist just had awesome toys out to capture Audrey's attention, so that she could see Audrey's range of motion in turning her head from side to side, she had some toys out to try and entice Audrey to grab in order to see if Audrey can bring both hands to midline, and some that were trying to entice Audrey to roll to her right side (she always, and only, rolls to her left). So she definitely does favor the left, and is a bit stronger on her left side, but the therapist said that she has full range of motion with turning her head, she can reach out and grab for objects no matter what side of her they are on, etc. We are continuing the exercises that we've been doing (well...we did them very diligently up until Christmas, and then kind of fell off the bandwagon...oops!), but the therapist only is going to schedule 2-3 follow-up appointments just once a month, and she said after that we should be good to go! Audrey has come so far from when we made this appointment in the beginning of December!

On a side note...in my last post, I was complaining about all of the appointments that we have to go to right now with the helmet, torticollis, general pediatric needs, etc., but being in Our Children's House today where kids go for PT and OT needs, I am so thankful to have such a healthy baby! Fixing a flat head and a stiff neck is nothing compared to the needs of some of the kids that I saw today.

Again, no pictures! Ultimate Mommy Fail!!!

Drama, drama

Man, I have not done any postings other than a quick weight post in awhile! Between the stress of trying to make sure Audrey was eating enough (for a couple of weeks she was only eating 2-3oz. at a time rather than her regular 5-6oz, which caused her to lose weight, and Mommy and Daddy to stress), going for many fittings and checkups with her helmet (we had to go again today because she had a red mark across her forehead, so the clinic asked if we could come in for them to take a look at - she developed a heat rash and can't wear the helmet until the redness goes away), and just everyday life I have not taken any pictures since Christmas other than her 4-month pictures. I need to fix this quickly! Our sweet little baby is causing so much drama! I say this jokingly...she's really an easy baby. Except for trying to get her to eat, but she seems to have gained her appetite back, so I think we're all good in that regard, too.

Hopefully, her heat rash will go away, so that we can resume helmet-wear soon. Also, tomorrow is her physical therapy evaluation, but I feel like her neck strength has greatly improved, so I won't be too surprised if she doesn't qualify (I also won't be sad if she doesn't qualify...I feel like we have medical appointments out the wazoo, and Audrey's actually a healthy baby!)

So that's a quick update on our life. I hope to get back to blogging and overloading FB and the blog with cute baby pictures very soon! :)

Shapin' Up and Slimmin' Down!

I went down 1.4 pounds this week!! Woo-hoo!

The weather has been so much better this week than it was last week, so I have gone running every day this past week - either by myself, or with Audrey (but then I have to walk). I grabbed lunch at Subway one day, and we went to Texas Roadhouse again last night (I am so much of a "meat and potatoes" girl), and again I just ate my meal - no rolls. Let me add....I really wanted a roll last night! In my head, I was thinking, "Just one won't hurt, right?" but I knew that I would have to blog about it because I can't keep secrets, and the few seconds of deliciousness that I would experience was not worth the guilt I would give myself for breaking my own "cleanse" that I've put myself on.

Since starting my Operation: Lose Baby Weight at the beginning of November, I have lost 9 pounds exactly! I'm 18 pounds away from my goal weight, and hoping to be back in all of my old clothes by May/June - just in time for summer :)