Little Man

Rowynn is always interested in all the "fun" things that mommy and daddy do throughout the day, one of those, in particular, is that daddy shaves. Luckily I stumbled across a play shaving set the other day while perusing Wally World (in the travel size section, oddly). Perfect! Now Rowynn can play along with daddy.

I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it...

Play Time

 Who doesn't like to be "flown" around the house?!

 Time for some squirt bottle painting. It's a bit of a mess, but so much fun!

 He takes after his mom, he's super cool ;-)

Here is what happens when you play peek-a-boo after eating a cereal bar.

Rowynn loves playing on daddy's phone. His favorite pass times seems to be watching videos (of him and his brother) and looking at pictures.

Have a great day!!

One Year Down, A Lifetime to Go

A few weeks ago I wrote about the plateau that I have hit with my weight loss. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my diet plays the biggest role in the lack of weight loss over the past couple of months. I also know, I don't want "perfection" bad enough to give up the foods I love. I'm sorry, I can't live on grilled, lean proteins and steamed/raw veggies, and still have happy taste buds. I do the best I can to prepare healthy, fresh meals. I keep our intake of processed food to a minimum.

I fail miserably when it comes to sugar. I limit the kids, but not myself.

Anyway, I found my tape measure!! Yay. So here are my results after ONE YEAR of working out and eating pretty healthy:

Start Weight:  162+ (I didn't weigh myself until 3 weeks after I started working out)
Today's Weight:  143 (And not budging!)


                    Start              Today
Bust             38.5               36
Chest           35                  32.5
Waist           34.5               30
"Pooch"       38.75             35
Hips            40.5               37.5
R Thigh       23.5               21
L Thigh       23.25             20. 75

The math on that: 19 lbs gone and 21.25 inches gone.

I still have work to do on my tummy area and I would still love to hit 130 lbs. But, I refuse to beat myself up about my body because it has produced three beautiful kids and I think I'm just dealing with my "battle wounds" from pregnancy.

Unless we have another kid, all the weight lost and inches lost, are not welcome back!!

Rowynn's First Day @ "School"

Rowynn started "parent's day out" last week and I think it has been wonderful for everyone! He gets to go play with other kids, new toys, listen to Bible stories and do crafts for three hours, two days a week.

That means I get, an hour and a half to myself, two days a week to clean house, blog, do laundry and clean some more! The other hour and a half is spent with my youngest just being the two of us. I hold him, read to him and play toys with him, without any distractions.

Here is my little man on his first day:

SKP - Brennyn 13 Month and Rowynn 2.5

Once again we were lucky enough to have Kristen Mackey of Son Kissed Photography photograph our sweet babies. It's crazy to think that she has been photographing our family for two and a half years. She is such a talented photographer and a sweet friend.

"really?"

Doesn't he have ornery written all over that face?!

One of my FAVORITE faces. He has been doing this since he was itty bitty.

You can't tell me that those lips aren't kissable. I literally wanted to kiss my computer when I saw this picture!

There is so much love between these two, it's a joy to watch.

I think he could be in a Gap Kids ad :-)

Plateau

First let me start off by stating that I've never been the smallest girl in the room. When I was in high school, I wore size 9-11 in juniors. I'm the girl who had a guy write, "loose 10 pounds then call me" in my yearbook. Through the years, I've come to realize being rail thin is NOT ever going to happen for me. That's okay, I would rather have an athletic body anyhow.

So, three kids later, my imperfect body has become even more imperfect! Thankfully my husband loves me, c-section apron and all. But I knew after Brennyn was born I really needed to do something about my weight and overall health. I decided to pull out my trusty old 30 Day Shred DVD and get to work. It is amazing how much that 20 minute workout 5-6 days a week changed me. After that became less challenging, I started on Ripped in 30. I also decided to jump start my weight loss by cutting out sugar in the months of October and January. I was happy with the results I was seeing and it made sticking to the workouts and healthy eating a little easier to do.

What really started making a difference in my muscle tone was stumbling across Body Rock in March. I went from working out ~20 minutes a day, to doing 12-18 minutes a day. My first month I did the February 30 day challenge and then just started following the videos they posted.  The difference in my body has been incredible.  I still lack a flat tummy, but I'm not sure anything will ever improve that area (besides a tummy tuck... maybe someday).

It seems as though my tape measure has disappeared, so I haven't measured since June, but from September to June, I lost 18.5 inches!

I'm super happy about my weight loss, (18 lbs since September) but my goal is to hit 140 with an ultimate goal of 130 and I've been stuck at 143 for over a month now.  After a lot of thought, I've decided that being 130 isn't worth the foods I would have to cut out. I'm no Hollywood starlet and I'm not being paid to be thin, so I will sit back and enjoy 143 lbs while I eat a cookie with my sons, ice cream with my hubby or a yummy, greasy cheeseburger every now and then.

Being in super awesome shape would be great, but I just don't think my taste buds could handle that. I like to cook and bake... and let's face it, EAT! Anyone who knows me well knows my love of food. I don't sit around and eat potato chips all day or shove empty calories in my mouth. Calories have to be worth it to me. So, I have decided to change my mind set and be happy with my weight, besides, weight doesn't matter, it fluctuates daily.

The other day I went shopping and for the first time in my life I put on a size 6! Not only that, but every shirt and dress I tried on was a small. One of the dresses I bought was and xs!!! I think that's good enough for me.

Before: 170ish

January: 147

January

April: 149

June: 145

August: 143

August

Like I said, I've never been the smallest girl in the room, and I'm still not, but I can walk into a room now and feel comfortable in my own skin. I've gained confidence and I'm proud of the hard work and sweat I put in daily. Do I eat junk? Yes, I'm pretty sure it's why I'm not getting to my goal, but I'm still pretty darn happy to be where I'm at.

Who knows, maybe in a few more months I can get over the hump and hit 140, we will see!

This and That

Well, my blogger is being ridiculous and I am unable to format this post the way I want, you will just have to bear with this silly style.

Brennyn updates: 

Brennyn eats EVERYTHING. So far the only thing he spits out is scrambled eggs, from home. I must be a bad scrambled egg maker. 

He has been cruising for a month or two, but in the past few days he has actually started taking real steps! The most I've seen him take is maybe 4-5, but it's progress in the right direction. I need this 27 pound "baby" to start walking on his own so mommy's arm/elbow can have a break!

His personality is really starting to show and he is a stinker! He knows he's not supposed to get up on the fireplace so he'll turn around, look at you, put one knee up on the fireplace and then give a giant cheesy smile. Ornery!

Brennyn is already really into "sports". He loves to put the ball in the hoop, play "catch" and roll the ball. It's amazing that he is so much more into those types to things because Rowynn shows little interest.

 

Rowynn updates:

Rowynn is speaking small sentences and I love it! He talks clearer and clearer every day. I love that he repeats almost everything I say.

Rowynn has gone from Calliou, to Curious George and now is stuck on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It's been neat to see him gain his own likes and dislikes. We have also graduated to watching full movies! He loves Toy Story 2 & 3 (we haven't bought him the first one yet), he also loves the learning DVDs he has and, of course, his Wiggles DVD.

Rowynn likes to pick out his own clothes.

When I take him to a clothing store he walks by everything, touches it and says "I like it". It's pretty darn cute.

My kids won't eat donuts, not sure what is wrong with him, but I was finally able to get him to eat waffles with peanut butter and syrup, he's a fan of that now. Now he can fit in with his dad and me.