Milestone, the Big 50!

Before

After

So I'm layed up in bed on the laptop and have totally slacked off yet again on my blog. The main reason I am layed up is well, how do I say this without getting responses of TMI. I am one who gives too much information, what can I say? Not much embarrasses me in that light. Either way I am in pain and on my monthly cycle. One of the things I wanted to share so please don't TMI because it's actually a HUGE victory for me. Since January of this year I started my weight loss journey in hopes of losing at least 70 lbs mostly to see if I could reverse my infertility issues and feel better, look better, be healthy etc. I started this blog when I was pregnant after going through infertility treatments for the second time and successfully concieving our second son. It's a long hard trip to go through as many women I know go through it. If you are curious what causes my issues just go back to the very first post that I made, it's all explained there. Anway, the whole point of saying this is I have hit a very real, very exciting milestone. I have officially, Drumroll Please! Lost 50 POUNDS! *Angels sing Halleleuah!* I finally did it. I can not believe it! And on top of this, I have had 3 consecutive months of regular periods. I never thought I would ever have a regular cycle ever and yet there it is. It showed up last night and with one fell swoop I am showing progress with possibly reversing some of the effects of my Polycystic ovarian syndrome. What's funny to me is I look back and when I first talked to my infertility specialist, the first thing he said was "The best way to improve and sometimes reverse the problems with infertility in PCOS is to lose weight" Of course at the time I was overweight, infertile as far as I was concerned and who wants to hear, "lose 50 lbs" as their treatment? Give me medication so I can have a baby was all I wanted to hear. Now that I see the proof is in the pudding, WOW is all I can say. So I'm not to my goal weight but close enough that I can see the end at the tunnel of the losing weight journey I've been on. 17 more pounds is all that's left for me to reach my goal, or at least my current goal. I dunno what I'm going to feel like at that point or if it's where I want to be. I may stop sooner, I may go further who knows. I prefer to keep some curves though and be a healthy weight for me so probably not much less if I do. I remember thinking at the beginning of this, I wasn't going to be one of those people that loses the weight and then has to tell every person they see eating something they want to that it's so bad for them and they should eat this way or exercise this way and they'd feel better but I can see why someone would. I feel so amazing that I want everyone I know to feel the way I do. When I do it though I mostly try to be encouraging and give suggestions when asked for them because I know how annoying it is to get comments from former overweight super skinny people without asking and think "That's easy for you to say look at you!" So for now if anyone wants advice I can tell you what worked for me and if not, good luck with what works for you. As long as we're both happy it's all that matters. 17 more pounds to go!

I'm a slacker and IT'S BEEN HOT!

Ok so I've been a bit of a slacker with posting blogs, wish I could stay on the ball with this. Life gets in the way though and I forget. I'm so tired with a baby that's teething but those two front teeth of his finally broke through. I'll try to get a picture when they are more noticeable. It's been so freakin hot here lately! It's crazy! Luckily for us we had our landlord install our Air Conditioner at the beginning of the summer when we got our first hot day and I was not dealing with it without it. We've had our air conditioner for 6 years and never had it properly installed which is really weird I know but it's a unit that sticks out the window and we never knew how to install it properly. So when we used it in the past we'd either stick it part way out the window and rest the inside on the back of the couch or on a makeshift table to keep it from toppling over. What's funny about this is 1. it looked goofy and 2. it's a dehumidifier built in so having it be on the back of the couch it wasn't level and water would spill out of the bottom onto our couch. At the time we didn't care because it kept us cool and the couch was a hand me down crappy couch.

So we survived the last few days holed up in our apartment when the temperature reached a wopping 104 degrees! I called these days underwear days. Rowan was in his diaper all day, Gavin in his undies and me in my underwear too. Even with the air conditioner it was still pretty roasty once the sun hit the main windows in our place. Spencer was working long days at his client's house and was roasting with no air conditioning so they invented a way to stay cool by wetting washclothes and freezing them and then placing them on their heads. He brought me home ingredients for the best low fat/calorie fruit smoothies and that helped too. Now the temperature is gone down again and I'm really happy. I would rather be cold any day then HOT because when you're cold you just put on another layer. When you're hot there's not a whole you can do except maybe jump in a cold shower for a temporary fix. Hope everyone else is dealing with the heat well. Enjoy the sun!

6 months old!

Rowan is 6 months old as of the 4th of June. Man time flies! I finally got my pictures my sister took of him when he was blessed at a month old and I can't believe how tiny he was. He has become such a sweet boy and will continue to bless our family. His list of acheivements so far are rolling over both ways, scooting backwards (he can't really go forwards and has yet to really figure out how to get anywhere going backwards mostly gets frustrated), he has two teeth on the bottom, weighs about 16 lbs, says mama and bwa bwa for da da or that's what we think it is. He continues to grow so fast but as he grows he is getting to be so fun. I love being his mama so much, I always thought being a mom would be amazing and its become more then that to me now. I wish I could slow down time for but a moment to enjoy them more. Keep on growing buddy.

Here's a couple pics to compare how big he's gotten.

And I had to share a picture of Rowan with sweet potatoes for the first time

Auntie Chelsea was feeding him (hence the mess lol)

"Mom Sick" AKA a Mother's Job is Never Done!

Rowan has had a bit of a cough lately but has been getting better and so I didn't think oh maybe I should wash my hands or be warey of germs. Big Mistake! Last night before bed I started to feel ill and my throat got super duper sore and I knew it was coming on.

Now kid sick or Husband/Grown Man sick is totally different then Mom Sick. I was pondering this over and I thought man Mom's just can't be "Just Sick".

Despite waking up and feeling so crummy I still have to get up Gavin and put him on the potty, get him dressed, feed him breakfast, get him entertained by a movie while I get Rowan up and feed him, which of course I can't just give him food . . . I AM his food. That is time consuming and when I'm done manage to get myself something to eat for breakfast (which didn't happen this morning). I try to rest but of course Gavin has discovered he can open the fridge door whenever and goes and brings me the jug of milk which means he wants a drink. Rowan is lieing on the floor doing floor time and precedes to start screaming because he wants up or to be sitting up. I get Gavin a drink and put the milk away and get Rowan his bumbo chair all the while I still haven't eaten. Put on another video and go to lie down on the couch and Gavin being in the throws of potty training still yells for me "Potty Mommy!" Get up, put him on the potty, finish with that, wash our hands. I manage after this to get a bagel with cream cheese all the while Gavin is trying to get my attention again. He wants his mister potato head from the closet. Get potato heads. Rowan starts crying again, he seems to be getting tired and hungry again, it can't be time for that again can it? Look at the clock its already past noon! Feed Rowan and put him down for his nap. Kick the cat out of the bedroom. Get Gavin some lunch which he gobbles up fast. Finally some quiet to rest or so I think . . . Gavin grabs a nasal aspirator and thinks its funny to suction my arms but it actually hurts when he pokes me with it. So I take it away and say don't do that. Melt Down! Gavin gets thrown in his room. Naptime for all. I lay down to get in a quick nap and the phone rings. Toll Free my best buddy. I don't answer . . . They call a second time! I answer and its a collection agency for someone who doesn't live here. Keep calling me I dare you! So I wait on hold to tell the person on the other line who doesn't speak english that Michael C Reckor doesn't live here and hasn't lived here for 3 years. Lay down again but can't sleep so I look around and there's laundry everywhere so I decide to throw in a load. Sit down to blog . . . And the day goes on. It boggles the mind how when everyone else is sick they get babied and coddled until they are feeling better and can get back to their normal responsibilities but the work of a mother is never done and we can't just stop and "Be Sick" or the world would stop turning and the household would go to pot. Today I say thank you to all the moms who keep the world turning despite being knocked over by sickness. Who would take care of everyone else when they were sick if a mom didn't do that job? No one that's who!

I finished this post and not 10 mins later Gavin comes up to me with blood dripping down his forehead. He had gotten in a scrap with the cat and guess who won? Scared me half to death! It was only a small scratch but it was bleeding enough to drip down his head. Add to the list *clean up blood off carpet and myself and bandage wounds from fight with cat* UGH!

Husband of Mine! Don't Scare Me Like That!

Yesterday morning I got a phone call from Spencer at work. He said he was leaving there shortly and my heart flipped. Last time I got a phone call like that he had been put on suspension and eventually fired. I just about freaked! We just moved and he was doing great at his new job. I said what happened? Its not about work phew so what is wrong? "Well my heart started to beat a little faster then its supposed to and then the adrenaline kicked in and after the EMT came and checked me out, my heart rate was up to 130 BPM so I am going to go get checked out"

Of course my mind starts racing, what does this mean? Is the muscular dystrophy doing something to your heart? My mind is very much on panic mode at this point. He went to a clinic and they told him to go to the hospital to get checked out. By this point I'm in full blown "Oh crap am I gonna lose my husband mode" Scared out of my mind he calls me before being brought back to the room to be examined and that was the last I heard from him for 3 HOURS! Can you imagine the thoughts I was having at this point? I sat and prayed and called a couple friends and they distracted me and reassured me everything was going to be ok all the while I was freaking out. Spencer finally called me and said "I'm fine" What a sigh of relief phew! Nothing like a scare like that to make you realize how long its been since he's seen a doctor. Its time to go see the MD specialist and get checked out. Why does it always seem to be that when you have medical insurance you never use it but when you don't . . . . you need it. Murphy I hate your stinking law! Luckily for us there is a charity that will cover 1 hundred percent of the bills for yesterday and Spencer got the rest of the day off to relax and recover. Don't you ever scare me like that again!

Welcome to the Beard House

So I know I already blogged about moving but I figured now that I'm pretty close to being done unpacking I'd post some pics of our new place and give everyone Le Grande Tour! We love our new place, because it has a garage and its smaller but set up more nicely I think. Perfect for our family. My favorite part about our new place is we are saving a good amount of money on rent so we could afford a nice used washer and dryer so I can do laundry at home! I've been without a washer and dryer for the majority of the time we've been married (almost 7 years) and let me tell ya, I am so happy to have one now. With kids they make excuses to get stuff on their clothes so this makes my life so much easier.

Here's the tour in pictures for you. Enjoy!

Enter into the front Entryway

To your right is the Kitchen

Straight is the living room (a lot bigger then it looks)

Dining room

Bathroom
Master Bedroom

The Kid's Room

And my favorite part Our Washer and Dryer!!

Jonny Jump up you are now my new best friend!

We decided it was time to buy a Jolly Jumper or as this one is so nicely named Jonny Jump Up. Rowan has started to want to stand and bounce but my arms and anyone else's can only hold up 15 lbs for so long before they need a break, in which he gets mad and starts crying. My sister said he'd probably love one so I went and bought one because I figured its cheaper then buying an exersaucer and it takes up less room in our apartment, always a bonus. He ended up loving it and its my new way of getting some time to do housework and wear him out for naps at the same time, two purposes in one!

When we were moving, our single bachelor friend Kelsey made the comment, "Do you guys think you have enough contraptions to cage a baby?" ha ha. We have a jonny jump up, baby pea pod, carseat, high chair, bumbo, crib. It made me laugh because I said to him well, not really my sister has what her kids affectionately call "The Baby Cage" which is this contraption . . . .The Super Yard XT!

Which not only keeps baby out of everything else but also protects her one year old daughter from her siblings. Although I've seen on many occasions when all three of her kids are in the baby cage playing with baby toys lol. Kelsey replied that's all you need then get rid of the rest and get the baby cage and have baby POW's forever more ha ha. I don't think there would be enough room in my living room for that thing though so we probably won't end up with anything like that any time soon.