Making Changes: 5k #5!

Well, I didn't actually weigh yesterday simply because I started the day at 5:30 a.m., was busy allllll day long and then ended it about 10 p.m. and never thought twice about it being the day I blog about weight loss...or lack thereof. What I can tell you is that today, I am not down a single pound since the 8th of last month. I have officially plateau'd, I think. Time to reconfigure or...you know, eat less.

Yesterday was my 5th 5k ever. 3rd for 2013. It was at Chaffee and I liked the course but it was hilly! I knew of one little hill at the beginning....yeah I didn't know about the FOREVER hill after Mile 2. Nevertheless I did a little walking and still finished with my 2nd fastest time ever. 30:14. Which is a little frustrating because had I not walked, I probably would have set a new PR and on a hilly course at that! I won 1st place in my age group and yes there actually were other people in my age group. :) The thing about races is that most usually people get faster the older they get. How crazy is that?!?! My group 21-29 was slower overall than the 30-39's. And it seems to be that way most of the time. I don't have it figured out but I need to speed up before that next big birthday!!!!

I was going to take off for July as far as races go, but now I think I have found one in Greenwood that I am going to do on the 4th. I haven't officially signed up, but I'm working on it.  And then in August is the Color Vibe and I am (and have been for awhile) registered for that one. 

I have plans to start back on the 30 Day Shred tomorrow, to continue my running and to start counting my calories again and I HOPE to drop 10# before the 8th of next month to make up for not getting anywhere this month. Maybe saying that on the worldwide web will kick me in gear!!!! Wish me luck!!!

Just some things...

Isabel has been 2 for over a month now. There are so many things that I didn't put in her 2 year post that I want to try to remember and I know that even still I won't remember everything as I am typing this. She is a feisty little thing that has everyone fooled! I constantly hear how sweet and good she is for other people and I am grateful for that. Honestly, she is really sweet & good for me about 80% of the time. Okay, 75%. haha
She is the typical toddler, or what I think the typical toddler is like--persistent, temperamental, stubborn, ornery and she is also loving and hilarious. That kid always keeps me laughing. I love her more than life.
Some things that she's been doing lately: I can say "I love you" and she says "Love you too!!!" It's always energetic and so sweet sounding. She loves to sing. She's been singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Old MacDonald's Farm for quite some time and just recently has started singing Funky Town. LOL--I might be the one responsible for that. It is SO cute! When she says "talk about it, talk about it...." she for some reason develops an English accent so it's like "talk aboot it, talk aboot it".
She is potty training and so she sits on the potty and yells "BIG GIRL, GOOD JOB, SUCKER!" whether she has actually gone to the potty or not. Haha.
She loves to be outside and begs to swing 100x a day, regardless of rain, wind, sleet, etc. Must.swing.now.zomg!!!!!
She loves to give kisses. She and I have this thing where she kisses both of my cheeks and then my mouth and then I spin her around in a circle real fast at the end. She LOVES this. I love it too. :)
She is her Daddy's sidekick and likes to help him work on stuff. She loves for anyone to read to her. Right now she is hung on "Kitty Book" which is Katie and the Kittens.
I started taking her to a MDO program on Wednesday mornings so that she can get more kid interaction and she seems to really like going. The ladies there always brag on how cute and funny she is.
She surprises me all of the time with things that she says. Sentences that I've never heard her say before or like the other day in the car I was listening to KLove and I could hear her  "singing" in the back seat. But the one word that I could make out very clearly was "Jesus" and she was saying it at exactly the time it was being said on the radio. Heart melted. Mind blown.
She is so smart. My mom has always worked with kids and she is amazed at the things that Isabel knows as a 2 year old. Letters, counting to 10, some colors, some shapes. I can drive by a family member's house and she will start yelling their name....and then flipping out if we don't stop and "go inside!!!!"
She's adorable and wild and she keeps me on my toes. My cup runneth over.


This weekend my parents took her to the rodeo for the first time. We're not big cowboys at my house so while she does have a couple pairs of boots, she didn't have a hat. Crisis averted. Thanks Nanny & Pop!

Our family pictures came back, here are a few for those of you who don't see my page on facebook.

The funny ones are my favorites of course. I like to keep it real. And when I said I would show you a few, I clearly meant 19.

Other happenings: I *think* we're getting a pool. My husband just all of a sudden decided he wants one real bad so he has been working on that idea. We'll see how it goes. I'll tell you one thing, if we get a pool in our yard, I am returning my "mom swimsuit" and buying well....probably another mom suit, but this one won't have a skirt. YES! A skirt. Sad deal. I actually found some one pieces that I love that are skirt free, but I am rocking some pretty gorgeous stretch marks at the tops of my thighs that haven't had time to fade, so tankini and skirt it is...but the tags are still on until further notice. I'll keep you posted. Alllll of you. ;-)

My Eva is crawling. So I've got a wild toddler and a crawling baby. Both of my girls are high energy. Ask anyone. So if you see me in public and my eyes are crossed and I am all jittery and drooling it's because I am busy yo. Real, real busy just keeping electric cords out of one kid's mouth and making the other one get down off of the pool table 1 trillion times a day. Why do we have a pool table anyway?

Taking a kidless day trip to Mt. Magazine this weekend to watch my husband and some friends run the 15k straight up the mountain. I plan on eating good food and laying out in the sun while they're acting a fool.

I'm still running. My Mom started training for a 5k (did I tell you this already?) so I am doing training with her a few times a week and then fitting in my own runs a couple times a week. I have another 5k next weekend and I really want to PR. Fingers crossed!

I think you're all caught up.

Happy Summer!

6 months!

Eva is 6 months old today!

*She weighs 17.5 lbs (75%) and is 27.5 inches long (99%) and wears 6 months and 6-9 months in clothing. Size 2 diaper.

*Eyes are still bright blue and the very little hair that has grown back looks real light. Blonde maybe?

*Sleeps from about 9 p.m. until about 2 a.m., takes a bottle, and then goes back to sleep until about 8 a.m. Takes one long nap mid-morning and then a couple 30 min naps throughout the day.

*Is eating about five, 5 oz bottles throughout the day and eating one fruit and one veggie per day. Cereal in nighttime bottle and first bottle in the morning.

*She has started to talk! I hear "ba ba ba ba" and "ma ma ma ma" and lots of squealing, all day long! :)

*Gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. Can go forward just by rocking that direction, but is not yet putting one leg in front of the other. Boy am I about to be busy! (er) Has started putting everything in her mouth, including her big toe! Drools constantly but no teeth yet.

*Loves bathtime and splashes all of the water out of her little whale tub. Loves her sister who she thinks is hilarious. Loves Momma!!! Likes being outside. Also loves eating food. I think she is about to starting wanting it more than milk!

*Happy all of the time. We are always hearing from strangers about how happy our baby is, especially here within the last month or so.

Time is flying and I think I say so every single update, but I still mean it. I cannot believe it's been 6 months of having this little girl in our life when it literally feels like we came home from the hospital last week! She has just been such a joyful addition to our lives and I'm so glad that God picked me to be her Mom. She is such a special little girl!

Making Changes: My Running Story

First things first: This past month (4/8-5/8) I lost 8 lbs. This put me at a total of 24 lbs since January 8th. 24 down....16 to go!
I was pretty happy with this number ESPECIALLY since I didn't lose any last month. I still haven't measured to see how many inches I've lost. Maybe when I find that tape measure thing, I will be blown away! :)

A short version of my running story, because honestly the ONLY reason I am losing any weight is because of the running. My diet is still all over the place and I still have big plans to change it. lol

Let's see....on April 20th, I ran a 5k. It was my 3rd ever, but my 1st since having Eva. I did it in 31:47. If you're not a runner or don't run races anyway, what that time means is that I finished about right in the middle of everyone. It's not a bad time but it definitely can and will improve. More importantly I did NOT walk at all--and I never do in a 5k. That is always my ultimate goal. And then this past weekend (May 4th) I ran another 5k and my time was 31:30. Okay, that was an improvement, but what you need to know is that well before the race ever started I had allll of these people with gps watches telling me that the course was too long. Some friends of mine used their 5k app and showed me where the end should've been and it was WAY away from the finish line. I have no idea how this happened, but of course, when I hit that mark I looked at my time to see where I was: 29:00! Would have been a PR, but I'm not bitter or anything!!!!!!! (my fastest thus far is 29:52 from back in 2011)

Moving on....
Being a runner is a relative term I think. If you were to ask my friends and family who don't run if I am a "runner" I think they would say yes. If you were to ask my husband and some of my friends who are EXTREME runners, they might say yes, but they'd be rolling their eyes, I'm sure of it!
I didn't start running because I love it, I started because I had just had a baby (Isabel) and I needed to shed the weight. I did it because I am surrounded by runners and I wanted to relate. And you know what? The training is about as much fun as plucking my eyelashes out one by one. I have to force myself to get up in the mornings and go run. I'm always happier when I do and I always feel better about myself, but getting there is a chore. Standing at a start line waiting on a gun to go off so I can start running a 5k with hundreds of people all around me is nervewracking but exciting and halfway through the race I am always like "whyyyyy??????", but immediately after I finish I feel great and I am looking for another one to sign up for! And now because I have been making myself get up off of my butt and go run, I am sitting here today at 9 lbs under my pre baby weight (with Eva) and waiting on my husband and kids to wake up so that I can see them before I go shopping for a new pair of jeans because folks--there is nothing better than bagging up all of your fat jeans and taking them to the resale store!!!! And that's what I am going to do on this rainy Thursday (and yes I ran at 6 a.m. this morning.) :)

My goal for the year was to run four 5k's. I have 2 under my belt and I am registered for 2 more coming up in June and then August. Looks like for once I am actually going to stick to a fitness related goal! Ha! There are 2 more in the Fall that I plan to run, so here's to blowing my 5k goal out of the water!



Isabel is 2!!!

My sweet, tiny baby turned 2 yesterday!

Today was her 2 year checkup. She weighs a whopping 25 lbs and is 33 inches long. 25% tile on both. My petite little girl. She wears size 18-24 months in clothes and a size 5.5 shoe, which is impossible to find, so we buy 6 and that is close enough! :) Size 4 diaper and size 2t in panties. Yes, we have tackled potty training! So far it's going pretty well I think. I can sit her on the potty any time of the day and she will pee. She strains real hard and makes it happen so she can have a sucker! Haha! She will also pee pee in the potty at my parents' house, but she is not to the point where she will tell me when she needs to go so when I put her in panties they last about 17 minutes before I get to clean up a mess, but hey--we'll get there! We get very excited for pee pees in the potty around here! Ha!

She takes one nap a day and it is normally around noon or so (if we're home) and usually lasts around 2 hours. She goes to bed at 8:30 p.m. and usually wakes up around 7:30 a.m.--most nights without a peep, but once or twice a week we will have off nights where she wakes up a couple of times and I go pick her up and hold her for like 2 minutes and she goes back to sleep.

Eating (or lack thereof): I've heard of the 2 year eating slump and I guess we're there. Actually we've been there for a few months. My kid loves to snack. I can usually get her to sit down and have breakfast in the morning (oatmeal, toast, cereal bars, pop tarts, pancakes, something of that nature) and course she has her morning cup of milk. I usually give her a mid-morning snack that can be anything from string cheese or yogurt to goldfish crackers or raisins. Snacking is her favorite. Lunch is iffy. Normally she is napping during the normal lunch time so she doesn't attempt lunch until around 2 pm or so. This seems to be the hardest time to get her to eat anything. She has just woke up and she wants to play. She cannot be bothered with food! So she usually snacks some more, whatever she can eat on the go that is halfway healthy and then she eats dinner with Daddy when he gets home and by eating dinner I mean takes 3 bites of whatever I put on her plate and then wants "down...play!" or "down, take bath!!!". I asked her doctor about her not eating and just all around tiny-ness and he said she is healthy and acting like a normal toddler. It does help that she drinks a TON of whole milk. I don't limit it at all, I just try to squeeze some water in whenever I can. Occasionally I will mix Carnation Instant Breakfast in with her milk for extra nutrition and it makes me feel like a good parent. ;)

Favorites: Being outside alllll of the time, swinging, riding the 4-wheeler with Daddy or me, playing in the dirt or water or BOTH, bathtime, "watch Elmo", "watch Dragons" (How to Train Your Dragon), raisins (I hear this request 72 times a day), her flash cards that have colors, numbers, & shapes on them, coloring, reading books, writing with an ink pen, marker, chalk...whatever she can get her hands on, "butter" (peanut butter), playing in my makeup, running, singing, "BAR!" (NutraGrain bar), Pop Tarts (wish I had never introduced her to them)

Not favorites: teeth brushing, sitting still for more than 5 seconds at a time, being told no about anything, coming inside our house after playing outside, the electric can opener, the vaccuum, the blender ZOMG!!!!

She is talking so much. Just in the past couple of months it is starting to become more like short sentences and not just one word phrases. There is still jibberish and I hope that sticks around for a while longer because it makes me happy, but about 90% of the time I know exactly what she is saying and she knows exactly what I am saying, even if she is choosing to pretend like she doesn't. :)

There are entirely too many words to list but some of my fave phrases: "in there"...examples: milk in there, blankie in there, Daddy in there....except it sounds like "in derr" so it's 4 trillion times cuter than I can type it. She also says "Daddy at work", "Momma's car", "Ssshhh Eva", "baby suck bottle", lots lots more! My little genius! ;)   Speaking of, she knows all 26 letters of the alphabet (even when out of order)and can recognize them and tell me what sound they make and a word that starts with that sound. Not joking. She has been doing this for a few months actually. I would like to take credit for that, but she learned it from a Leap Frog video. True story.

She knows how to say several colors and shapes and can identify a few of each. She can count to 5. She just amazes me all of the time with little things she picks up on.

She sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" but it goes like this..."Tinkle Tinkle Tinkle Starrrrrrr" She skips the next verse and then it goes "Apple Apple Apple High" (up above the world so high) and that's the end. Haha.

She also sings parts of "Old McDonald". She sings "EIEIO" in all of the right places and says "Moo Moo derr, Moo Moo derr" and "Donald Donald Donald!!!!" Sigh. So stinking cute.

I have rambled a lot. To sum it up, my kid turned 2 way too fast and I am crazy about her and she is just a healthy, happy, spoiled rotten little girl and I am so thankful to God that he allowed me to be her Mom.

5 months!

Eva Jasmine you are 5 months old today!!!!

*Size 2 diaper, size 3-6 months and 6 months in clothes. Feet too tiny for shoes! I don't know what you currently weigh right now, but I'd guess about 16 lbs.

*You still sleep like a dream and this past month your sister has been too. I won't lie--we haven't been up before 8 a.m. in 3 days. LOVE THAT!!! I don't feel like you're really on a schedule with your napping. I let you nap when you choose to do so and so far that is working out for us because you're still sleeping at night. I'll try to get a stricter schedule going when necessary. You still go to bed around 9 p.m. and wake up around 7:30-8:30 a.m. Maybe once a week you'll wake up in the middle of the night and I will feed you a bottle and you will go back to sleep. Mom's all over the blogosphere are freaking out!!! Haha. I'm not sorry. At 5 months old if you want a dang bottle, you can have one.

*Eating: you take 5-6 oz every 4-ish hours in the daytime and then like I said above, you normally sleep through the night without eating. We started solids this month and you have tried all of the 1st Foods except for squash. No reason other than I just haven't grabbed it out of the pantry yet. You really seem to like sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, peas, & carrots. You just tolerate prunes, pears and green beans. You are a good little eater. So far I have been giving you one fruit or veg a day, but I think we're about to bump up to a fruit in the morning and a veg in the evening.

*You are rolling everywhere! Full speed ahead! I try to lay you on a quilt in the living room floor and you immediately roll right off of it. I'm pretty sure it's on purpose. You somewhat like your toys, but you'd just as soon shove your taggie or a receiving blanket in your mouth and play with that. You like the paci, but you don't love it NEAR as much as your sister did. You love your Momma so much that sometimes you feel like you need to have an emotional breakdown when she lays you down, only to smile immediately and stop crying as soon as she picks you back up. Stinker. You are pretty much too big for your bouncer now. When I put you in there you push off with your feet and your head hangs over the top, lol. You're not big enough for the walker though. We tried that one out too. You want to sit up and never ever lay down unless you're sleepy. If I lay you on the floor you just pick that head up like you're trying to sit up. I give it about another month before you're sitting up unassisted.

*You are still so happy and smiley 99% of the time. That other 1%....INTENSE. I blame your Daddy for giving you and your sister these tempers! Seriously!

*You are slobbery and want to gnaw on everyone's hands right now. I keep feeling for teeth, but I don't feel any trying to break through.

*You still love bathtime and you like for your Dad and me to make ridiculous noises and "bite" at your belly. I could listen to your little laugh forever and never ever get tired of it. So sweet.

Love you so much little girl!!!!!

Making Changes: I cheated and it didn't help!

I've been weighing in on the 8th of every month and posting afterward. On April 7th, I consumed everything on planet Earth that was bad for me...so I skipped the weigh-in post for that day....but honestly, I weighed anyway because that's what I do. And you know what? I wasn't up any, but I wasn't down any either. And I hadn't been...I already knew.

I was pretty frustrated with this. I'm not sure why...I mean, I diet about 3 days a week and eat crap for 4 so it's not hard to understand why my weight isn't changing very fast. Except that in the past month, I have gone down 1.5 pant sizes. (I'm in between sizes at the moment). Sooo, I'm guessing that I am down some inches. I am going to try to measure tomorrow and see. I have been running 2-3 miles, 3 times a week and so I guess that's what is making the pant sizes go down. I just need to see that scale move. I need to.

Today, I'm down one more pound. I keep *thinking* that I will get brave enough to post my weights or at least pant sizes. I think the farther I get away from that starting number, the braver I will be. I get like 15 hits on average per post, so the idea that even 15 people will read it makes me sweaty. lol
Nevertheless, you guys need some sort of a picture evidence right?

I'm clearly on the right. This is the day we left the hospital with Eva. Roughly 27 hours after I birthed her.

This is on Easter and it's not my most flattering picture, but it's the most recent and I'm standing somewhat in the same position as above.

The difference in these 2 pictures is 29 lbs.

I think I've said this every time, but slowly but surely seems to be the motto here.

Next Saturday is my 5k. My 3rd ever and 1st since having Eva. Originally I wanted to PR, but now I am just shooting to beat 30 minutes. Training with one baby was hard you guys...training with two and a husband who works insane hours....even tougher. I'll get there. I can already run the 3.1 miles without stopping, I would just like to get that pace under a 10 minute mile. Maybe by the end of Summer, I will. It's a goal!

Thanks for bearing with me while I ramble on about things that are only important to me. Haha.

Coming soon--my tiny baby turns 5 months old, and then the very next week my other tiny baby turns 2 years old! I can hardly believe either!!!!!