Brynlee Elizabeth

I am so behind on this thing. I don't really feel like getting caught up cause I am kinda lazy but I did want to write about the new addition to our not-seeming-so-little-anymore family.

We (and by 'we' I really mean 'I') decided in July of last year that it was time for another baby. Then we found out at the end of August that we were pregnant!

The pregnancy was much easier than my other two. I was almost 30 pounds smaller than when I got pregnant with Owen, it made a huge difference! I was able to keep running until I was about 25 weeks, after that it was just too much for my bladder. The gym membership was a huge help (and a nice break from the kids.) I would do about 30 minutes of cardio -either walking on the treadmill on an incline or the elliptical- and then I would do a modified version of my normal weight routine. I gained about 30 pounds with this pregnancy, which was about 20 pounds less than my other two. And I just felt so much better! The "completely ready to be done, I feel like a beached whale" phase didn't kick in tell about week 37.

The labor this time around was a bit different. My mom planned to come out on April 27th- my due date was May 5th- but I started having contractions on Sunday April 19th, so she flew in the next day. Of course, nothing happened for a few days. But on Thursday April 23rd they started again and didn't stop. We left for the hospital, after scrambling around a bit to find someone to come stay with the boys, around 9:30 that night. I was admitted and got the epidural a few minutes later. It didn't stick as good this time around though, left leg was completely numb and I could still feel the right and some of the contractions, but it still took the edge off.

Things didn't really progress very fast, at about noon the next day I was still only at a 5, so my doctor said he'd come in a few hours to break my water, but about 15 minutes before he got there my water broke. That was about at 1:45 and Brynlee was born at 2:24! She weighed 9 lbs 4 oz  -my smallest baby! I was really surprised at how fast she came. She was having some issues breathing so I was only able to hold her for a few minutes and then they had to take her to the nursery to try to clear out her lungs. 

She is such an easy baby! She totally just goes with the flow and her brothers love her!

a is for apple

I've been attempting to do a home school preschool type thing with my boys. Thanks to Super Why, they already know all the letters, but we've been working on the sounds they make. I searched pinterest and found a lot of letter of the week ideas and did my own version on a couple of them. {this was one of my favorites http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/56908/how-to-homeschool-preschool}

Honestly, when it comes to little crafty projects like this I don't want to spend a lot of money. So that's where the dollar store comes in. I got a thing of construction paper and some glue sticks. I cut out the shapes for the tree and the apples and then a lower case a with some seeds, stems, and leaves. This was our first experience with glue sticks and {with a lot of help from mommy} the boys did really good with it.

For the capital A I just found one online and traced it off my monitor- very lightly- with a pencil and then went over it with a marker. Then I just cut some strips out of construction paper and let them glue them on where they wanted. {Owen is pretty OCD so you can tell which one is his...and I'm not sure how well Conner was grasping the concept but he had fun!}

For the rest of the week we just kept talking about different words that start with A. We also have been using abcmouse.com and my boys have been having a lot of fun with it! 

 This is just one of the things that I keep in their activity box that I pull out every once in awhile. I tape Glad Press n' Seal to the window {with the sticky side out} and then cut some strips out of tissue paper. It's cheap and easy and keeps them entertained for about 30 minutes.

I seriously love the dollar store and the dollar section at Target. I can usually find a lot of coloring books and different kinds of pre-k workbooks. With those Owen has been working on tracing letters, numbers and shapes. 

So fun to watch them learn!

it's been awhile...

Losing weight is hard. And sometimes it really sucks. Especially when you get stuck in a rut and the pounds aren't coming off as fast as you want them to. It's hard to stick to a diet and it's easy to lose your motivation to exercise. That's about the time that I scroll through all my before pictures that I have on my computer. Or try on those size 18 jeans that I still have in the back of my closet just to see how big they are. I love seeing how far I have come and it gives me the motivation I need to keep going.
I'm not really doing a diet anymore, just watching what I eat. It's a lot easier now to make healthy choices than it was when I first started. That's another reason why I love the way I did this whole weight loss thing. It took a really long time. But it wasn't an easy, quick fix. I changed my lifestyle. And the weight has stayed off. I love eating healthy and I love working out.
I'm still about 20 pounds away from what "they" say is my "ideal weight" for my height and body type. But I'm focusing more now on how I feel about myself than those little numbers on the scale.
In just a few weeks it will be two years since I first decided to start running. It's taken a lot longer than I thought it would. But I am still so glad I started when I did! 

i joined a gym...

I don't like to run on the street. When I first started out running and I was pushing a double stroller, I didn't want to worry about dodging cars or trash cans and having to go up and down the curb...that's why I went to the track. And since we moved, I go to a park that's close by that has a path around it. {Yeah I know...I drive three miles there, run for three miles, and then drive three miles back home...but it's worth it to me} 

Anyway, I used to take the kids with me when I ran. I would go during Conner's morning nap time and he would take his nap while I ran and Owen would be chill with goldfish and his apple juice. It worked out perfectly.

But then Conner stopped taking morning naps. And Owen finally noticed that there was a park there, so he was done with the whole staying in the stroller thing and he just wanted to go play.
And that's when I went from running three days a week to one...if I was lucky.

About three weeks ago I realized that without running I hardly had anytime to myself. So we joined a gym.

Best. Thing. Ever.

They have an amazing daycare and the boys love going. {And they're socializing with kids their own age, which is something that they desperately needed.}
I'm working out regularly again. And getting a few minutes to myself a couple days a week. Priceless.

paleo

In November of last year, I was kinda stuck in a rut with the whole weight loss thing. I plateaued and was starting to lose interest in counting calories. I was on Pinterest and saw that one of my friends had shared this link:

30 Day Paleo Challenge

I had heard of Paleo before, mostly just from seeing it on Pinterest, but I didn't really know what it was. After doing just a little bit of research on it I decided to give it a try. 

{I didn't really follow the challenge word for word, though. We were on a tight budget and I didn't have time to get too fancy with my meals. For breakfast I mostly just did two eggs and two slices of turkey bacon. Then for lunch and dinners I would do either tuna with avocado or grilled chicken and a vegetable.  If I got hungry in between meals I would have a banana or a couple of almonds. And I drank A LOT of water.}

I did it for about three weeks and I lost 10 pounds. It was hard for me to stick to it though. After the three weeks I started having "binge days" when I would have a piece of toast or have some pizza. It would make me pretty sick and I would always feel like crap afterward, but, as much as I tried to resist, I still did it.

I went to Arizona for three weeks around Christmas, and during those three weeks I ate anything and everything I wanted. And I paid for it. I gained those 10 pounds back plus a couple extra. But when I got back home in January I started at it again (except for a week at the end of January when my in-laws came to visit) and I have, for the most part, stuck to it since then. It's gotten a lot easier now that I don't really crave the crappy food anymore and -thanks to Pinterest- I'm finding more Paleo recipes that satisfy the cravings that I do have.


BTW-- highly recommend the Jillian Michaels 6 Week Six-Pack workout. Such a good workout! So hard though...I would honestly rather go run four miles than do that video...but it works!

how i did it...weight loss part 3

**just a little disclaimer...I am in no way telling you what to do, I'm just sharing what I did and what worked for me**

It was in October of 2012 that I started running. I weighed 225 pounds. 

I went to the doctor in March of 2013, I stepped on the scale and saw that I was 212. I had only lost 13 pounds. It was better than nothing, but after five months I kind of expected it to be a little more.
That's when I realized that I needed to keep better track of what I ate. {And that I also needed to buy a scale!}

When I got home I downloaded a calorie counting app on my phone and I started counting my calories the next day. For the next six months I kept track of my calories {I stayed around 1200 calories a day} and continued to run a couple times a week. On September 18th I weighed in at 178 {3 pounds away from where I was when I got married...yay!} and I was so excited! I worked so hard to lose those 34 pounds!
I know that a lot of people are able to lose weight faster, and it is possible to lose more weight than that in six months. But for a mom of two toddlers who can't even pee by herself....I thought 34 pounds in 6 months was pretty darn good!

One of the biggest things to remember when you're trying to lose weight is to not get too discouraged when you step on the scale. Those little numbers can fluctuate a lot. Which is why a lot of other blogs that I read said to only weigh yourself once a week. But for me, weighing myself every morning helped me keep on track. If it wasn't changing, I worked harder. If I was losing, I worked harder.

Now I weigh 165...which is what I weighed when I graduated high school! {Of course I have it in different places now that I've had kids--my stomach used to be flat-- and I'm not nearly as muscular as I was then, but I'm working on it!}

I know 60 pounds in 17 months doesn't seem like that much, but I am so glad that I started when I did! The time will pass whether you're doing something or not, so you might as well do something!

And now...just for you...here's my before and during picture! I've lost a few more pounds since then and I'm still going!

running

Like I said before, I always thought it would be cool to do a marathon. I had never really run before though, and I never thought I would. I did track in high school, but there wasn't much running involved with shot put and discus. 

When I had tried running in the past, I would just run for as long as I could. It was hard and boring. I would do it once and then not even think about it again for months. 

But with the app that I downloaded you start slow...super slow. This is what day 1 looks like:

When I first saw it I thought running for 1 minute would be easy. I mean really...how hard could it be to run for a minute?? But running for one minute six times while pushing two kids, one of them in a car seat, in a double stroller that wasn't made to be pushed so fast....I thought I was going to die. 

But I did it.

And before I knew it I was able to run for two minutes, and then five, and then...gasp...I ran a half mile without stopping. It started getting easier. I was getting stronger. And it got to the point where I would actually look forward to doing it....never thought I would see the day!

And in July of last year I did my first 5K! Crossing that finish line was pretty much awesome, it made all the hard work so worth it!

So here are some of my tips for running:

 {again, I am definitely not an expert, this is just what I have learned and what helps me. I'm not anywhere close to where I want to be, but I'm a heck of a lot closer than I was two years ago...}

download an app. There's quite a few of them and it makes it a little easier. It's almost like having a trainer with you telling when to walk and when to run. It helps. A lot. 

listen to music. When you first start, it really sucks. But when you listen to music, especially your favorite songs, you don't think about it so much. I used Spotify, it's about $10 a month but it is so worth it!

good shoes. Good running shoes are rather expensive, but it can make such a huge difference! I highly recommend going to a running store and having them fit you for shoes. You don't necessarily have to by them there, they might be a little more pricey, but they should be able to help you choose the best shoe for you. {I absolutely love Aesics, but that's just me! They're not very stylish but I love em!)

keep going. There were a lot of times when I really had to convince myself to go run. But you never regret going, so just do it! 

don't get discouraged. It's hard. I had to repeat a couple of the weeks on my app because I wasn't quite ready to move on. And when we first moved to Texas a year ago I went about two months without running and I had to start over again. It's amazing how fast you can lose your endurance.

And lastly...just do the best you can! It's always going to be better than not doing anything at all!