Weight Update!

Alright folks, I have officially been doing WW since the Sunday before last (1.5 weeks ago).  I put in my starting weight on Sunday, but decided to do my weigh-ins on Wednesdays.  I am usually not home on Sundays, I didn't want to weigh-in right after the weekend (Monday), and Tuesday seemed too random.  So I chose Wednesday.  Hump day.  Middle of the week.  My husband said, "Wednesday is not random, but Tuesday is?  You're weird."  So.  I'm weird.  Whatev.  Getting down to business.  Between my first Sunday and last Wednesday, I lost 4 pounds!!  I couldn't believe it.  My hubby said (always the one to input his 2 cents), "Well, you just did a major lifestyle shift.  I would think you would lose the most at the beginning and then lose a little each week from now on."  Seems reasonable.  :)  Then, from last Wednesday to today, I lost 1 more pound!  So already, within a week and a half, I've lost 5 pounds.  This excites me and charges me forward.  Last weekend, I totally blew it when my friends were visiting because we went out to eat, I had fried pickles, and then we got Biscuitville the next morning.  Sue me.  This week, I have been trying to exercise more.  Going for walks outside, bike rides, and even broke in the treadmill a little bit.  Admittedly, I have been pretty hungry.  My tummy is always rumbling when I go to bed, and I am ready for breakfast in the a.m.  26 points gets used pretty quickly!  I know I can eat as many fruits and veggies as I want, and I have been, but a banana can only last you so long....I have been trying to have a big salad with a little bit of turkey and a lite dressing everyday for lunch.  I'm not tired of it so far!!  I took some 'before' pictures today.  Yowzas!  Here's hoping to look good in my Christmas picture! haha!  And keep it off for next summer!  I'll let you know when I lose 5 more pounds!  Stay tuned!

Don't I wish!  someecards.com

Brody's 11 Month Update!

***Publishing a little late***
Oh my gosh.  In one month, Brody will be O-N-E!  How did this happen?!  Let's not let time get away from us.  Focus, Jessica.  11 months.  Ahhhh, what a relief this month has been.  Brody has been sleeping better, becoming a little comedian, and has just been an all around cutie patootie!  I could seriously kiss him every second of the day and it not be enough.  I am so so thankful to be this little boy's mama and to have such a good hubby/daddy to do it all with.  After doing Brody's 10 monther, I realized that I left some stuff out that he has been doing.  Oh well, I will just add to this one!  How 'bout that?  Here we go.  At 11 (and 10...) months, you:

-Don’t have any teeth still.  whatelseisnew?

-nap twice a day for about 2 hours each.  You have always had at least one nap every day, even if it was only 30 minutes long. 

-are pulling yourself up and slowly cruising along furniture.  I don’t really think you are anywhere near walking on your own.  You can’t stand on your own for even 1 second.  That’s okay. We still love ya!

-are still affectionate.  You love to be held and hugged and played with.   You don’t give kisses as much, but you rub my arm and put your head on my shoulder and it’s the best feeling ever.

-have only had diaper rash one time and it wasn’t as bad as I heard it could be, and it lasted less than two days.  I attribute it to cloth diapers and being an avid diaper changer.  About every four hours, even if the diaper doesn’t seem that wet.

-are no longer swaddled.  This is one that I have forgotten to mention before.  We never really said, “Tonight we are going to stop swaddling.”  You liked to be swaddled and it helped settle you to sleep and by morning you would wake up completely undone on the other side of the bed.  We never had to go through the transition of keeping an arm out and then the other one where some parents struggled with sleepless nights over it.  For the past couple months though, we have just laid a blanket on you and you’re set.  Also, since you have been able to roll over you have decided that sleeping on your stomach is most comfortable.  Sometimes with your butt sticking up in the air!  So funny baby.

-LOVE books.  You squeal with excitement when you see one and love helping me turn the pages when I read to you.  You can be fussy in your car seat and I will hand you The Very Hungry Caterpillar and your satiated for a long time. 

-are waving hello and bye bye, sometimes even saying, “ba ba.”  You clap and raise your hands up over your head when you’re excited. 

-shake your head no and nod your head yes.  Sometimes you do it on purpose and other times just to practice.  You usually do it when you are eating and when I am trying to give you kisses (say ‘no’).

-point to everything.  It helps let me know what you want.  If you are ready for your nap and I take you in your room and sign ‘sleep’ you will point to your crib and try to climb out of my arms to get in bed.  If not you point out the door shaking your head ‘no.’

-are signing and understand my signing and it is so cute.  You sign all done, eat, milk, and sleep.  You also understand stop and more.  You picked up sleep in one day and it really has made naptime much easier.  Sometimes you will do it to let me know or if you start rubbing your eyes and yawning, I take you to the crib, sign ‘sleep’ and you lay your head on my shoulder.  I rub your back for a minute, lay you down and within 10 minutes I don’t hear a sound through the monitor.

-are saying mama and dada discriminately but randomly too.  You also say ba ba, gung gung, doot, bpt, and have started rolling your tongue and saying lalala.  You also make your mouth into a perfect circle and say ‘ooo  ooo ooo’ like a monkey!

-DANCE!  It is the most precious and hilarious thing I’ve ever seen!  As soon as you hear music, whether at home, in the car, walking into a store, you start nodding your head up and down, waving yours arms around and/or swaying your shoulders back and forth.  You love music.

-are sharing.  It started with your pacifier but now you do it with everything.  I give it to you, you give it to me-back and forth.  I am trying to teach you the ‘thank you’ sign in the process.

-have slowed down your nursing a lot.  You still nurse well in the morning, some in the afternoon, and your bottle of pumped milk daddy gives you at night.  You don’t nurse for comfort really, only if you are really hungry.  You love your solid food and would much rather have that!

------I have only pumped a couple times this month and it has been so freeing!!!!  You still have quite a bit stockpiled, but hopefully you will use it because you…

-have started taking less and less during your nighttime bottle feed.  You used to drink 4-8 ounces, but now you only drink 1 or 2 before you get squirmy for bed.  You might be dropping this feeding.  Daddy is sad.  He used to hold you for about 20 minutes for bed and now it is sometimes 5 minutes or less.

-had your first experience at IHOP.  You love their pancakes and eggs.  

-can climb stairs.

I am 11 months old!

giving blue doggy kisses

:)

standing and playing with your drawer

your average sized meal---you eat like a teenager

lots of fun pool time to be had

devouring eggs and pancakes from IHOP

sleeping bottoms up!

lots of boat rides

Buddy and grandma got you this cool pillow racer!

Improvised baby wearing

making my most favorite scrunched up face

Brody's catching the big one

always a happy guy

catching the sunset on the beach

make your oo oo face like a monkey

Your first 4th!

handsome guy on the 4th

"I need a nap!"

crawling all over mommy

Here you are with Nana

and Papa

another beach trip

Family of 3

well aren't you adorable?

We love you so much!

Thanks for being the best baby in the world and giving mama an easy job!  Next post like this will be when you are a whole year old!!  AHHHHH!

Let's Be Honest....

Let's make this quick shall we?  I have got a napping babe and a bathroom to clean!

-our friends are coming to stay the night tonight while en route to the beach.  A) This excites the crap out of me.  B) I love when people visit because it motivates me to clean the whole house. C) I may just stow away in their suitcase so I can go back to the beach.  D)  This excites the crap out of me!


-I have been doing WW for almost a full week now.  Sometimes I am HUNGRY, but I can definitely tell that it's going to work.  It really makes me think about what I am eating and how much I am eating. Both of those things were out of control before.


-I REALLY want to start working out.  I was a crazy madwoman before pregnancy spending 3 hours at the gym sometimes!  I know I can't do that now with bobaloo and that's okay.  BUT I am super nervous about dropping him off at the daycare area.  NOT because I don't trust the people that work there but because the last couple times Brody has been dropped off at the nursery at church he has screamed bloody murder and even one time, our 'number' popped up on the screen to come and get him. (<<major run on sentence and i don't care!)  YIKES!!  Now that I am staying home, he has definitely grown attached to his mama.  I may just go to the Y a couple times and play with him in the daycare area so he gets used to the place.......


-I wish I could throw the entire car seat in the washing machine.  Especially after Brody eats a banana.  Ew.


-I HATE when I miss a spot shaving.  Like, I HATE IT.  I also can never wear shorts to bed because I hate when my stubbly legs touch each other.....


-I am stressing over getting everything ready for Brody's party.  That and I am really sad that none of his cousins (all 4 of them) won't be able to come. SAD SAD SAD


-My friends are coming to stay that night tonight.......wait....did I already say that?? :) !!!!!!

See you later ding dong heads!

This One's for the Boys...

After almost 6 years of marriage and 1 baby later, I can honestly say that marrying Brian was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  He's hilarious and affectionate and helps out in every way.  I was thinking of how I could help the guys out there put a little 'spark' back into their relationship or keep the fire burnin' so these are just a few things that randomly popped into my head that I knew I would appreciate and feel the love.   Girls, feel free to add your input.... okay......

8 Ways to Show Your Wife You Love Her

(I know 8 is a random number, but it was late when I made this list so bear with me, ok?!!)

1.  Surprise her with flowers.  On a Wednesday.  No special occasion, you just knew she would like them.  (If your wife isn't into flowers, then bring home something small that you knows she likes...)  I, myself, am a flower girl....

found here***

2.  Make dinner AND do the dishes.  Give her a break every once in a while.

found here***

3.  DATE NIGHT!!  Set it all up.  Choose the restaurant, buy the movie tickets ahead of time, arrange the sitter.***    

***CRUCIAL!

found here***

4.  Hold her hand.  When you're walking.  When you're driving.  When you're sitting on the couch.  Show her that you are happy just being next to her.

found here

5.  Leave random love notes.  Under a pillow.  In the driver's seat.  Written on the mirror.  Things like this give girls butterflies in their stomach.  We like butterflies.

***Here is a site about taking a 52 Love Notes Challenge.  This guy has a lot of good ideas. :)

***Also, there are LOTS of sites to help with this.  Just google 'love notes for wife'...

6.  Compliment her in front of other people.  The "You're beautiful"'s are sweet at home, but there's something about it being said in front of others that makes us believe it's true. 

found here

More tips on complimenting***

7.  Draw her up a bath and say, "I'll put the kids to bed tonight."  DING DING DING!  (that's the love alarm going off)

found here

***A good article on the importance of dad putting kids to bed.

8.  Pray together.  It's one of the most intimate things you can do.  Initiate conversations about God.  Go deeper than the 'how was your day?'

found here***

Well, there you have it.  Maybe just choose one and see how it goes.  You may just get lucky yourself. Bow chicka wow wow............

***Denotes link that will take you to blog/article about the importance of doing specific task or other helpful information...

I'm Tired...

After spending the last few weeks constantly in a bathing suit and finding that I am starting to gain back weight after losing it post pregnancy, I realized that I am tired...


Tired of
trying on clothes thinking how much better this would look if I was as thin as 2 years ago.

sucking in.  all the time.

feeling guilty every time I eat bad food because I can just feel another dimple forming in my butt.

my thighs being intimate with each other causing pain when I have walked too long in a dress or bathing suit.

my gut rolling over my waistband.  Muffin top ruins a perfectly good outfit.

feeling self conscious playing with my son in a bathing suit where my rolls bulge and craters form when I sit down with him.  And just sitting down in general, looking down at my FUPA!

the door to door saleswoman telling me I must have some sista in me cause my 'thighs is thick.'

having no energy.

being incredibly jealous of the hot babes on the beach. So what if I've got 10 years on them.

not feeling sexy for my husband.


SOOOOOOO......

I joined Weight Watchers online.  Yep.  I did it.  I decided to do it online instead of going to weekly meetings because of the cost difference.  Right now the registration fee is just $1 and then a 3-month package is about $58.  I started today and have been tracking my meals and calculating points.  I am considering getting a Y membership too to kick my butt in the exercise department.

I am hoping to keep myself accountable through this blog and you can track along with me, maybe start up a weight loss plan with me.  This is still going to be a mommy blog (don't worry! :) ), but I am just going to post random updates with the label 'WW' if you want to keep up with me!  Here we go!

LET'S DO THIS!!

MIA for a bit

Hey guys!  Just wanted to say that I will be MIA for a week or so--not that I post much anyway.  I am going to the beach---AGAIN!  One of the perks of living just a few hours from the coast!  I'll be sure to post Brody's first 4th of July pictures, his 11 month update, and all of his beach adventures when I return!  I know you can't wait! :)

Brody's Birthday Wish List

I cannot believe Brody's birthday is just a little over a month away.  I still feel like I have so much to do!  I have been busy preparing for his party and one year photo shoot making decorations and cute outfits. :)  I was just trying to comprise a list of items that I think Brody would love and things that he needs.


1.

A convertible car seat.  Preferably the Britax Roundabout 55 in Onyx.  As I am sure most mommies know, Britax is top of the line in safety.  This is considerably less expensive than the Marathon 70, but I am not sure what the major differences are so why not go for the better price?!!  View it here.  He has definitely outgrown his infant car seat and really should have switched over a couple of months ago due to his length, but now what's one more month?!  :)

2.

Brody desperately needs some place to store his toys!  Right now, they are all piled on his play gym in the middle of the living room.  Not so tidy.  Wal-mart sells this kind, but I don't care what it looks like really-just not a plastic.  :)

3.

I love this walker!  It looks like so much fun!  Brody still can't walk on his own and this will help him practice.  I saw this at Wal-Mart and thought it was perfect!  I may just have to get this for Brody myself!  haha!  Because this list is for me too!  To look back on and see what was needed at his different stages.

4.

I love this personalized chair!  Brody would look so cute sitting in it on movie night!  This may be a bit old for him and I may ask again for his second birthday, but it is just so darn cute!!

5.  

ERIC CARLE BOOKS!!  He is one of my favorite authors/illustrators.  Brody LOVES The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  He gets so excited when he sees it.  He loves Brown Bear, Brown Bear too.  We also have Mr Seahorse.  I would love to expand his collection of these books!

6. 

 

A personalized plate.  girlytwirly.com/ sells amazing personalized items including these plates!  They have really cute plates with pictures on it, like surfboards or pirate ships, but I think a more neutral plate would last for a longer time.  

7.

TOYS!!  To go in his toy chest!  This boy loves to play!  He LOVES to push buttons, spin wheels, dance to music, open and close doors, etc.  The my first words toy is actually flash cards which I thought was cool.  The steering wheel looking thing is actually a case for the iPhone so he can play the games I have for him  Thought it was totally cool.  :)  I also saw the My Discovery House toy at Target and played with it for a long time! haha! It has lots of buttons and switches and makes lots of noises.  It is another really cool toy.  I LOVE looking at and buying toys for Brody! uh oh!

Well, there you have it.  Sweet little one year old items.  I wonder how much it will change by the time he's two!  It will be here before ya know it!  Do they sell 'Miracle Don't-Gro?' hahaha!