OLW- Week 1 (and frustrated)

Operation Lose Weight has just begun...and already I'm frustrated. I went from ZERO activity to doing SOMETHING every day. Activity this week was this:

Saturday- run/walk 3 miles
Sunday- run/walk 2 miles
Monday- 1 hour Zumba
Tuesday- run/walk 3 miles
Wednesday- run/walk 2 miles
Thursday- nothing (meetings till 7:00 and then dinner out)

ANDDDDDD....I didn't lose a thing. Not a think. Come on, really? We even went out to Mexican with friends and instead of my usual chicken quesadilla with lots of cheese, sour cream, and guac, I choose grilled fish tacos on corn tortillas. Shouldn't that at least give me -1 pound. Throw me a bone here!

Next Friday's weigh-in better show some results. This week's goal is to continue to workouts but track my food. I'm paying for Weight Watchers online but not taking the time to sit down and figure it all out (stupid, I know). I'm going to make myself accountable my reporting my weekly progress until Mexico. Annoying for you, but hopefully motivating for me.

AND, I forgot how much running hurts. Everything hurts. I'm sure my body is totally confused why I weigh so much and I'm trying to run. Hopefully when pounds come off, it will get easier. I'm thinking of using the Gallaway method a lot of you told me about. It seems like interval training is going to be necessary if I really want to do a half. I can either train to do the Marathon relay and run the whole thing (6 miles) or train for a half where I'm definitely going to need to walk.

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Operation "Lose Weight" begins!

"9 months on, 9 months off." People have been repeating that phrase over and over to me. Well, folk, Ethan is 8 months old and I officially have 23 days until "9 months off".

I've never been skinny and I'm not trying to get skinny. I'm trying to get to a good place for myself and my body. So, let's quickly go over this past year and a half. I started here (September 2010-4 weeks pregnant):
End ended here (32 pounds later...May 2011-9 months pregnant):I walked out of the hospital down 20 pounds. (That was a perk of having a baby that was 9 pounds, 4 oz!) I felt pretty good, 20 down only 12 to go. I lost another 5-6 pounds by my 6 week post-op appointment and felt like I was in the home stretch. And that is where the weight lost stopped. I have not lost 1 pound since Ethan was 6 weeks old. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've gained a few lately.

I feel pretty horrible about myself and cringe when I see pictures of what I'm looking like now-a-days. With a trip to Mexico in my near-future, I am motivated to finally lose those last 7-10 pounds (and then some).

The plan is to train for a half marathon. It's hard to believe that the last time I ran was 16 months ago. Pathetic. We bought a treadmill and I'm happy to say, that I have used it every day this week.

I saw this great idea on Pinterest:
I thought that it would be really great for me to actually see the amount that I am trying to lose. Honestly though, 25 measly little marbles don't look like that much. They just sit at the bottom of a rocks glass. I'm going to need to find a skinny vase of something. I'd love to check in here with updates on my marbles :) Probably not weekly but maybe monthly.

So, 25 pounds is the goal. I'm hoping to get to -20 by the Mexico trip and 25 would be icing on the cake. I'm going to cut back on the booze, start a working out regimen, and watch what is going into my mouth. Weight loss isn't magic...it's simply a science. Less in and more out. WE CAN DO THIS! Here goes nothing!

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Eight Months

How is that possible? Eight months, Ethan?

Oh goodness! He is growing so fast...it really blows my mind. Each week, I get a Bump and BabyCenter email that says how many weeks old he is. This week's email said 36 weeks. He's also been outside as long as he was growing inside me. What a beautiful journey this motherhood thing is, right? I can honestly say that I have never felt like this, I've never loved like this, and I never knew life could be so wonderful.

What is Ethan up to at 8 months old?
He's recently started to crawl (if that is what you want to call it). It's not so much hands and knees as it is army crawling. He can pull up to perfect crawling position and rock back and forth but then just ends up doing the army crawl and rolling around the room.

He has cut his first tooth, too! Somewhere in the mess of him having a cold and first ear infections last week, it came through. You can see both of the bottom teeth when he opens wide but I only feel one of them. I'm so excited to see that adorable smile with some teeth!!!

He has started to say "mama" and "nana". FINALLY! "Dada" was one of the first sounds that he could make. When do you start counting it as his first word? I'm guessing when he actually looks at one of us and says it and means it. Right now they are just babbles so I don't really count either as words. (Although hearing him say "mama" makes me feel soooo good!)

This week, he also started to wave and eat finger food. After only 2 months of purees, the big boy wants the real stuff. I'm sure we will continue to give him purees for awhile but offer finger foods too. This is going to mean a MAJOR change in our diets (I'm not sure that I want him to eat what we eat...).

Happy 8 months, Mr. Man. WE LOVE YOU! (Pic from his 6 month shoot but I don't care!)

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My Blog List

Last week, I was mentioned on Bower Power for a Top Referring blog. My picture and link were mentioned on her blog and I was left scratching my head. I guess it means that people are using my blog to go visit hers. A lot.

It got me thinking that I would like to share my favorite blogs that I have linked on the right side of the page. I purged my Google Reader recently and I'm looking for some new blogs to read. Hopefully my list brings some new blogs to you. If you have a blog, please comment and link to your blog. I'll make sure to add it to my GR!

I'm just going to go down the list:

Bower Power- Katie is a mother, photographer, amazing home-decorater, and pretty funny girl. Her home is amazing and her DIY tutorials are incredible. I'm sure you have seen them all over Pinterest without even know they are hers. Seriously, look at her Christmas card and try to tell me that this girl doesn't have a hilarious sense of humor. (And no, she isn't pregnant!)

Gina's Skinny Recipes- I've followed this blog for a couple of years and have made a few of her recipes. I definitely need to try a bunch more...everything looks so good. My personal favorite is her chicken chili.

Girl Stand Still- I met Mary though a local wedding website and years later, we are both figuring out parenting, for both babies and doggies. Mary is an incredible mother to 2 pitbulls that are incredibly well-behaved. Mia has yet to meet Levi and Neptune but I still hope a playdate is in their future. Mary's recent post about her pitbull and beautiful daughter, Elsa, is so darling. Mary also inspires me as a runner and not going to lie, I'm super jealous of her willpower and determination.

In Her Shoes- Andrea is also a mother and photographer. I love reading and seeing pictures of her 2 little darlings. She is super determined when it comes to dropping the baby weight and she recently started eating Paleo, which is very intriguing. I wouldn't ever be able to do it...but I enjoy hearing about others giving it a go. She just photographed another blogger's gender reveal and did a great job.

Kitschicagoan- I also "met" Stephanie though a wedding forum and didn't actually meet her in real life until she was driving down my street to visit a family member! Stephanie just moved back to St. Louis after living in Chicago. She is also a new mommy and she has incredible style. Her daughter's gender neutral nursery in her Chicago loft was INCREDIBLE!

Marital-bless- I just love reading Leah's blog. She is another mommy/photographer (wow...I follow a lot of those) but she is so much more. I love her outlook and I love how she writes...about her family, her beliefs, her decisions, and life. She has a great ability to express her honesty point of view without coming off as "preachy". Leah is super creative and always comes up with great photography ideas. The one of her sons in old man outfits was just too much for me.

MNC Photography- This is my husband's photography blog. I can't say it enough...I am SO proud of him. He was able to quickly grow in his talent and has created a very successful photography company. He has just finished his second wedding season and I love seeing his work improve. Mike is such a hardworking guy and I am so glad that he can share his talent with others. The ability to tell the story of love is a huge responsibility and he's doing an incredible job. His "year in review" post was a great sampling of what a wonderful year we had.

Martinis or Diaper Genies- Hands down, my favorite blog. She is crude, rude, crass, and hilarious. I LOVE HER. I've been reading her blog since she was pregnant and I loved her VERY honest description of the ins and outs of motherhood. She's crazy...seriously crazy...and I can't stop reading. She's a self-proclaimed hippy (she ate her placenta), she's obsessed with Brittany Spears and Suri (this post made me laugh), and she created an awesome nursery for her son. Her recent post about finally losing the baby weight (after 1 year) was so true, I found myself nodding and laughing at the same time. Finally, her creation, WANA, had me shipping off 4 boxes to 4 mothers around the country. I filled the boxes with diapers, wipes, toys, and baby clothes for those in need. It was amazing...I cried reading the post and comments, cried while shopping for those babies that needed Christmas gifts, and cried when I got the pictures back from the families that got my boxes. Ugh...there are so many posts that I wish I could link. I just love her...do you get it?

My Life In Transition- I first learned of Julia from my roommate who worked with her husband in St. Louis. He had recently attended her wedding and recommended her photographer. Her wedding was inspiration for mine and I started following her blog though her transition out of St. Louis as a new wife. She now has a little boy Truman and a little girl on the way (announced yesterday). I love Julia's style of writing and totally agree with so much of her outlook on life and her beliefs (including her neurotic thoughts and moments). Although I have only met her once in real life, I feel like we have been friends forever. It is hard to choose a highlight to post so I'll link her newest excitement, the news of a baby girl.

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Cloth Diapering- Revisited

Ethan is almost 8 months old and we are definitely still using cloth diapers. I really love it and I'm so glad we decided to do it. There are so many benefits of cloth diapering, it is SO easy, and it works for our family. In this post, I explained the process and the diapers that we use (BG 4.0 and I was waiting on my shipment of Sunbaby diapers).
Most parents that cloth diaper have a lot of different types. We only have 1. We exclusively use the Bum Genius 4.0s. We tried the Sunbaby diapers but ALWAYS had leaks. After getting frustrated one too many times, I just sold our stash to a friend. Although they got good reviews online, I couldn't use them without leaks...every single time. Goodbye Sunbabies!

Our Bum Genius diapers have been great. We started to have our first leaking problem about a month ago. I wasn't sure if it was me or the diapers so I stripped and began to double stuff. I bought some HempBaby inserts and our problem is now solved.

Also, anyone worried about the poop issue, I need to let you know how easy it is. Now that he eats solids, his poop just falls out into the toilet. SO easy and we don't even need to use our sprayer anymore!

I buy all of our diapers through Cotton Babies. I love this store! They also offer free shipping and have the best customer service. I have purchased all of my cloth diapering supplies through them and will continue to do so.
Cloth diapering isn't cheap at first. We have probably spent about $400 for the diapers, the bags, the sprayer, hemp inserts, and detergent. However, this doesn't compare to the $2,000 it costs PER CHILD to use disposables. I knew that we were going to have to buy formula for Ethan so I'm happy to be saving in any extra way that I could.

I love cloth diapering and I hope my review helps others decide to go this route too.

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Things I'm Loving

In no particular order...








And of course, this little guy :)

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1/2 Marathon- Take Two

Before I got pregnant, we were training for the Lewis and Clark half-marathon. (We actually ran 8 miles the day before I get my BFP.) Now, over 1 year later (15 months to be exact), I'm going to try to jump back into running and complete a 1/2 marathon in 4 months. Is this even possible? Am I crazy to even attempt this?

I need to do something that kick-start my year. I need to do something to get my body back. I need to do something where I can feel constant accomplishment and growth. It's going to be hard and it's going to hurt. But I'm going to do it. (And I'm not going to lie...I'm scared!)

I saw these on Pinterest and they are so, so true!
Last time, I used Hal Higdon's training plan and I think I'm going to do it again. If anyone knows of a better plan for a beginning runner, let me know. I'm going to use January to do a fast-forward version of Couch to 5k so I can get up to the 3 mile starting point. Then February-April will be focused on adding mileage. Have I mentioned that I'm scared?

Here goes nothing!

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You are my Wish Come True

I mentioned it on my blog when I was pregnant, but I didn't have an easy pregnancy. I prayed...a lot. I wished...a lot.

When I was about 7 months pregnant, the author, Marianne Richmond, visited the elementary school where I work. To say that I fell in love with her books is quite an understatement. I listened to her read her books to the students and I cried. I flipped through a few others and I cried. Yes, I was an emotional pregnant woman but her words just struck so true for me. I wanted to buy all of her books on the spot but finally settled on I Love You So and You are my Wish Come True.
"When I first wished my wish," said Mama to Barley, "I didn't know your name. Or if yo'd be a boy or girl. But that didn't stop my wishing. I asked God to think about my wish and to create the while who would be the perfect one for me."

"What did you do when you first held me?" asked Barley. "Oh Barley," said Mama. "I fell deeply in love with you. I looked into your sweet face, and right then, you became my wish come true."

I just love this book so much and can't wait to read it to Ethan when he is old enough to understand. He is my wish come true. When it came around time to creating our artwork for the nursery, I knew exactly what phrase I wanted in his nursery.

*Photo by Clary Pfeiffer

Marianne Richmond has other beautifully written books. "I Wished for You" is a story about adoption, as adopted children are wished for and prayed for, as well. "If I Could Keep You Little" makes me want to cry right now thinking about it. I just love her books. There are books for Mommy, Daddy, grandparents, siblings, and features people with different skin, eye, and hair colors. Her books are fabulous for shower gifts, graduation gifts, or just for yourself and your baby. Enjoy!

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Well, hello there!

It has been a while and I'm wondering if anyone is out there. Even if no one is reading, I'm going to try to get back into the habit of blogging. Ethan is growing so fast and I have a feeling that 2012 is going to bring a lot of change and excitement to our lives.

This year, I hope to blog about my half-marathon training, weight loss, motherhood, moving and decorating, and reviews and recommendations of different products, restaurants, etc.

We will see how it goes but blogging is going to be a New Year's resolution for me. Here's to a happy and healthy 2012! And here is a picture of my New Year's baby :)

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