A fresh start...

What is it about moving into a new house that somehow gives you the feeling of a new start on your life. As I've been planning and dreaming about moving into our new house, I've been thinking about the things that I'd like to do....
...Cooking more homemade, gourmet meals
...Exercising every day
...Having a perfectly clean and decorated house
...Working in my garden in the evenings
...Growing fresh herbs for my cooking
...and on and on and on......


I think you get the picture. I thought that I was the only one, this being our "first" house and all. It just so happens that both of my other sisters are buying houses at the same time as me. What are the odds. Lol. But the funny thing is that they are both on the same page as me, dreaming about being the ideal wife, mother, and person.

Although we probably won't stick to all of our dreams of being perfect, atleast we get the chance to "start over." We should be closing within the next couple weeks and I am going to have so much fun making this house our home.

Moving into November...

It's a little crazy how fast October flew by. I can't believe tomorrow is November already. I got quite a bit accomplished this month, and I'm looking forward to just getting better and better. I've weighed and measured myself, and here are the results:

October 31, 2011

Weight: 142 lbs (8 pounds? I'll take it!)

Waist: 29.5" (Half an inch awesomer!)

Bust: 36 

Upper Arm: 10.75" 

Butt: 38" (Ummm.... not sure what happened here. This better all be muscle)

Thigh: 23" (Sadly it didn't change.)

Calf: 14.5" (A little smaller)

I am pretty proud of myself for all that I've accomplished so far. Yesterday I ran 5 miles and it was a whole lot easier than I was expecting it to be. It's so exciting to watch myself improve. I'm not where I want to be yet though. Let's review my October goals and see how close I came. 

OCTOBER GOALS:

• Lose 5 pounds - Better yet: 8!
• Workout 5 days a week - Not quite. I've been doing about 4 days a week.
• Run 3 times a week - I didn't start out the month doing this, but I stepped it up!
• Train for a 10k - How about a half marathon!
• Lose atleast an inch off my thighs - Didn't accomplish this. 
• Tone up my stomach - Nope.
• 8 cups of water a day - Very sadly no.
• Only 1 cup of coffee a week - I'm a coffeeaholic. Definitely need to work on this.
• Read more/Watch less TV - Half done. I've been watching less TV, but not reading.
• Always go to bed with a clean house - Getting better at this, but not perfect yet!

And based on those, here are my current goals for this month:

NOVEMBER GOALS:

• Lose another 5 pounds
• Workout 5 days a week (running 3 of them)
• Sign up for a half marathon
• Lose an inch off my thighs
• Tone up my stomach
• 8 cups of water a day
• Always go to bed with a clean house
• Eat a good breakfast every morning
• Slowly cut out coffee by the end of the month
• Read one book this month

Do you have any specific goals you want to meet this month?

Keeping on keeping on...

I am pretty darn proud of myself! I have been doing so good at sticking to my running plan. I haven't missed a run yet. I know I'm only a week and a half into it, but still... It's been 3 months since I had a baby, and I'm feeling pretty good. I ran 4 miles on Sunday (a personal record).

My sweet husband has been running with me every step of the way.

Enough bragging on myself. :) I've decided to post some progress pictures so that I can see my improvement. I should have taken some pictures at the beginning of this month, but I didn't so I'm starting now. I plan on seeing some awesome improvements in the next year.

                                  

Check back in a couple days to see how well I did this month with my goals and how much I weigh now. And also stay posted for my goals for November. 

Slimmer by the minute

Well we are over half way through October and I have to say, I haven't been very good at keeping my goals so far. But I am not giving up on them.

To help me stay motivated to run, I've decided to run a half marathon in December. That is leaving me 8 weeks to train for it. Not ideal, but definitely doable. Hopefully it'll kick my butt into shape. :) I mean, if I'm running that much, I'll just have to drop the pounds, right? Maybe I'll be back to my pre-pregnancy weight by Christmas...

I still need to buy a scale so that I can do my weigh-in at the end of the month. Not sure how I'm doing, but hopefully I'm getting smaller by the minute. :) Going running after work today...

I want my body back...

After your belly stretches out to the size of a very large watermelon, you start to wonder if you will ever have a normal looking body again. It was honestly one of my biggest fears when I was getting into the home stretch of my pregnancy. I realize that I will never go back to exactly what I looked like, but I plan on getting pretty darn close. It's been about 2 months since I had a baby, and I'm ready to kick things into high gear to get my butt back in shape. I've been motivating myself by reading fitness blogs and I'm ready to stay accountable and hopefully inspire someone else to get into shape as well.

Pre-pregnancy weight: 135 lbs

 I took measurements of my body a week before I delivered so I could see just how fast I could shed this weight afterwards and get back to looking and feeling fabulous. Here it is:

July 21, 2011

Weight: 181 lbs (I ended up gaining about 45 lbs)

Waist: 42"

Bust: 38.5"

Upper Arm: 10.5"

Butt: 41.5"

Thigh: 23.5"

Calf: 15"

After 6 weeks, I weighed myself and I was down to 151. Thirty pounds in six weeks? I'll take it. Of course, most of that was baby weight, but I did have to work off some of it. For now, my goal is to get down to 130. That's 20 more pounds to go. I'm going to try and set monthly goals and keep you posted on my progress. It's going to be a fun and exhausting journey I'm sure and hopefully I'll see some results very soon. I've already run a 5k, which I am very proud of myself for.

October 1, 2011

Weight: 150 (sadly after I dropped the 30 pounds, I've kinda plateaued...) 

Waist: 30" (ha ha, 12 inches thinner... oh yeah!)

Bust: 36" (probably where some of my weight is chilling)

Upper Arm: 11" (i'm buffing up from carrying that baby everywhere)

Butt: 36" (5.5" smaller, I'll take it)

Thigh: 23" (this definitely needs alot of work)

Calf: 15" (same ol'....)

OCTOBER GOALS:

• Lose 5 pounds
• Workout 5 days a week
• Run 3 times a week
• Train for a 10k
• Lose atleast an inch off my thighs
• Tone up my stomach
• 8 cups of water a day
• Only 1 cup of coffee a week
• Read more/Watch less TV
• Always go to be with a clean house

What are your goals?
**Special thanks to my amazing older sisters who both have rocking bodies after having babies and made me believe it was possible! :)

Where have the last 7 weeks gone...

I absolutely cannot believe how fast the last 7 weeks have flown by. I have tried to get on here and write quite a few times and have gotten about a paragraph down until I have to do something else. Life with a baby is never boring. Somehow I never quite find the time to sit down long enough to write down my thoughts. But here it is... finally after 7 weeks of motherhood... I absolutely love it! Let me back up to where I left off though.

The last day of work before I delivered (41w 2d).

I had so badly wanted to just go into labor on my own, but as the days just kept dragging on and on, I finally caved and decided to get induced after being 10 days past due. I ended up working right up until the day I delivered, which really helped pass the time.

July 27 - We headed to the hospital around 6:30am. I was so excited...in only a few hours (ha) I'd be holding my sweet baby girl for the first time. The Doctor broke my water at about 9am and started me on pitocin. Only being 1cm dilated, the day seemed to drag on.

Around noon, my contractions were getting very strong and painful and I got my epidural shortly after. Best thing ever! I was able to relax (for the most part) the rest of the day and enjoy my visitors while I waited for my body to hurry up and get things rolling. I feel so incredibly blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life that love and care for me. With four baby showers, I received everything I could possibly need and more. Thanks to those of you who made this event so special for me and were there when I need you.

 After a very long and exhausting 13 hours, finally at 10:30pm Brynlee entered into this world weighing 8lb 5oz and measuring 20in. She was absolutely perfect!

It was the best feeling in the world to have her in my arms. She was so delicate and precious. It made the whole long, miserable pregnancy and labor sooo worth it.



The next few days is a blur. I guess it's what people call "survival mode". I slept when I could, tried to get used to the fact that Brynlee was no longer inside me and soaked up every minute.

Before I knew it, it was time to take Brynlee home. I was so ready to be leaving the hospital and be back in my own house, but at the same time, I was slightly overwhelmed at the thought that I wouldn't have a nurse to show up at my every call. On the way out of the hospital, our lovely nurse decided to cut off Brynlee's anklet before they disarmed the alarm and it locked down the entire labor and delivery. It was quite amusing watching the very large security guard come running up to check on things. If someone was really stealing a baby, I'm not sure he would've gotten there in time. It seemed that nobody knew the password to turn the alarm off. After about 10 minutes of waiting, they were finally able to turn it off and let us leave.

And what can I say... Is life with a baby everything it's cracked up to be? I think so, and maybe a little more. :) Yes, it can be challenging and exhausting at times, but so worth it. I've definitely had to adjust to alot of things, but we are figuring it out one day at a time. It definitely takes so much longer to do everything. I feel so blessed to have such a good baby. She hardly cries and loves to sleep, just like her mommy. :) Here is a real quick update on what we've been up to in the past 7 weeks...

1 week old

Our 3 year anniversary fell one week after I had Brynlee. My 2 wonderful sisters drove up from Chattanooga and hung out with me for the day, and then watched Brynlee for an hour so that I could go out to dinner with Brad. It was a little hard to leave her and I'm pretty sure I cried a little, but it was really nice to have an hour alone. 

2 weeks old

We went to Brynlee's cousin's 2nd birthday party and even managed to get a cousins picture with the grandparents.



3 weeks old



4 weeks old


 At 4 weeks, I packed up Brynlee and we headed down to Myrtle Beach for what was supposed to be a nice, relaxing vacation with my family. It turns out that vacations aren't as relaxing with kids. :) We still had a bunch of fun though! Brynlee got to meet her great-grandparents and learned that her great-grandpa is a complete nut. :)

5 weeks old

It was Brad's 26th birthday, and as the tradition has come about, we decided to go camping. Brynlee's first camping trip and she did great. We just chilled by the fire and whatnot.

6 weeks old


Despite the adorable distraction Brynlee can be, Brad has been working so hard and has gotten a promotion. Brynlee started to intentionally smile too. It's so cute!

7 weeks old

I'm back to work and trying to get used to that. It's nice to have a little break, but at the same time I miss her terribly and can't think about much else. That was a quick summary of the past 7 weeks in my life. Hopefully I will do better keeping up to date with all of the latest developments from a day in the life of a new mom. :)

Another week...

Well here's an update, even though there is not too much to report: The infamous "Due Date" has come and gone and still no baby in my arms. Talk about a test of patience... Not only am I unhappy to still be in this position, but everyone else is also quite disappointed when they see me with this big belly. "Oh, you're still here?" :) But at least the end is near, that I know for sure. If she doesn't come on her own before then, we plan on inducing next Wednesday. One more week.... but hopefully less.

I went to my Doctor's appointment yesterday and had her check my cervix and strip my membranes. I'm 1 cm dilated which is better than nothing, but I was hoping that I was farther along than that. Supposedly the stripping of the membranes can sometimes help jump-start labor. So last night I went for a long walk with some awesome friends and then got jiggy with my man. :) Still no contractions, but at least I had a fun night. Brad told me that today is the day. Not too sure if I believe him, but I'm hoping it is.