I'm Feelin' 32

I had a really great birthday!  All day I couldn't get Taylor Swift's "22" song out of my head.  Even though I haven't felt 22 in ages!  We started the day watching The Little Mermaid at the Alabama Theatre with a few friends.  Barrett was so excited and AveryAnn had more fun going up and down the stairs in the lobby.

Neither of them would look at me.  This is the best shot I got.

Buddies.

My babies and me on my birthday!

That night I went to the HIIT class I've been going to with a few friends and then the rest of the group met us for margaritas!!!  We laughed so much and had the best time!

We were left and Brittany was taking me and Cassie back to our cars when I had the bright idea to go roll Cristi's house.  We knew she would go home and go straight to bed.  It took a lot less convincing to get everyone on board.  So we met up and headed to WalMart to buy materials.

I have no idea why this was so funny to me, but it was.  I laughed until I cried.  I was afraid Cristi was going to be mad but was hoping she'd find it as funny as we did. 

She says she's not mad at us.  I think she was relieved it was us and not some random person. 

Friday, I was definitely not feeling 22 after staying out until midnight.  We went to work and then Patrick and I had planned to go to dinner for my birthday but he ended up having to work late so we had a little pizza party at home with the kids!  It was a good night! 

Saturday we went to my parents to see Madelyn.  I was going to the pool and I was planning to leave AveryAnn and just take Barrett with me.  I was getting ready to leave and he decided he wanted to stay with my parents too.  So I got a kid free pool day.  I got to read by the pool.  I can't tell you how long it's been since that happened.

John and Hope came to get Madelyn and AveryAnn wanted to go home with them.  I just love this picture of my brother holding both girls.  (AveryAnn insisted on wearing the bunny's pants again)

Reminded me of this picture of John and the girls last year.  AveryAnn was 5 weeks old and Madelyn was 11 weeks.  They've grown so much!

My mom said that about 30 minutes after I left Barrett said he changed his mind and he wanted to go swimming.  I felt bad and I knew that was going to happen but it was good lesson in making choices and living with them.  I got so burned I can barely walk. 

Sunday we went to Mass which was an adventure to say the least.  Then we went to my parents house for lunch.  The kids stayed there while I went to HIIT and not only were my muscles on fire, my skin was too.  It was rather painful but I'm proud of myself for going. 

It was a great weekend.  I'm sad that we only have two weeks left before school starts. 

Wednesday Weigh-IN: Week 6

We're just trucking along these days, not too much to report.  I had another party this weekend.  (I feel like we have at least one occasion to eat cake each week.)  I resisted the cake! I went to HIIT three times last week and I've gotten to go once this week.  Hopefully, I'll get to go tomorrow night too.  (I've got a sick kid, and a husband that's on call and working late pretty much every day).  I'm really enjoying working out again.  I'm down one size in shorts and pants and that feels way better than any cake tastes.  I'm kind of in between where my pants are too big but I don't want to buy any.  I guess that's a good problem to have, so I'm not complaining.  I am planning myself a little cheat meal this week for my birthday.  I really just want a margarita and a cupcake :) .  I'm still trying to mentally disassociate food with celebrating but I feel like it's okay every now and then.  The problem is when every, single day there's some sort of celebration and the opportunity to over indulge.

Now for this weeks weigh-in:

-2.6lbs

I'll take it.  My goal was to be 170 by the end of July.  I've got a few more days, not sure if I'll make it since I planned a cheat day but that day it worth it to me.  I've reached the 30lb mark from my highest weight this year which feels really good.  I've got less than 40lbs to lose to reach my goal and that feels very obtainable!

Not much different in inches this week but that's to be expected.

Waist- 36" (no change)

Chest- 42" (-1")

Hips- 39.5" (no change)

I only lost 1" but that's one more inch gone, so I'm happy!

Thanks for following along.  I've received so much encouragement from this little space and I appreciate it so much.  I hope that maybe I can also be an encouragement to anyone that just needs a little push to get started.  My advice is commit to a week.  You can do anything for 1 week.

Baseball & Bowling: Weekend Review

We had a busy, fun weekend!

Thursday, we headed to the library to have our reading logs checked for the last time this summer.  Barrett and I have had the best time reading and collecting tickets.  We ended the summer with 3370 pages and around 120 books. 

It was superhero week at school and they made these masks and capes and Barrett has worn his all weekend.  I thought it was so cute.

Friday night we had big plans to go to a Barons game with the Moore family.  We got parked, walked over to the stadium and the game was sold out.  We were so bummed. 

We headed back to Gardendale and had dinner on the patio at Buffalo Wild Wings.  The boys ran and played in the grass and we enjoyed dinner.  After that we came back to the house and let the boys play a little while longer and just hung out.  We called it an early night because Patrick had to get up the next morning for work.

Saturday, Brittany came over to cut my hair, then we decided to try to her technique to cover all the gray hair. (Both of my parents grayed early and I seem to be the only one of my siblings that inherited this, lucky me!)  Also we had to go pick up a cake in the middle of this so Brittany was a little nervous how it was going to turn out.  I thought it turned out great.  

 Saturday night, I went to take engagement pictures for some of my good friends. I'm so excited for them and can't wait for their wedding next Spring.

Sunday was a day Barrett had been looking forward to for most of the summer.  It was finally Grampy's bowling party.  My boss Steven had cancer and went through chemo the first 4 months of this year.  He's now cancer free and doing great so he wanted to throw a party to thank everyone that helped them though the time while he was so sick.  He went all out and we had the best time.

Barrett was not very patient while waiting his turn but he made sure to put on a show after each frame.  He was dancing and just having the best time.

Brittany, Me and Amy.  I bowled often one semester in college and I got to be not terrible.  I started a little rocky but finished pretty strong.

This girl missed Grampy all week.  He was out of town on vacation and she looked all over the office for him everyday.  She was so happy to see him and even went right to sleep in his arms.  It was so sweet.  I hate I didn't get a picture of my sister and Clay, they came since Patrick had to work to help me keep and eye on the kids while I was making sure the food stayed stocked for the party. 

We had the best time and can't wait to go bowling again.   

Barrett wasn't ready for the party to end so he brought a piece of cake home with him.

 Now we're snuggled in bed waiting for Daddy to get home and getting ready for the week!

Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 5

I've been in Ketosis for 30 days now.

Those first couple of days I never thought I'd be here.  But I am so glad I stuck to it.  I've felt better in the last month than I have it a really long time.  I feel like I've been a better wife, mom, employee and just person in general.  Food still looks really good and I have to make the choice to eat right but it's getting easier.  I didn't even really want birthday cake at my birthday party this weekend.  I just decided it wasn't worth it.  I've also started working out a little this week.  I've been to two HIIT classes (High Intensity Interval Training).  The first one kicked my tail.  Like really kicked my tail.  It's only 30 minutes so I'm like "I can do anything for 30 minutes".  Yes I can, but I also got sick afterward.  I've never gotten sick from a workout.  I've also never been this out of shape so there's that too.  The instructor was in the bootcamp class I did several years ago.  So I knew him and he was great.  So encouraging, makes you want to go back.  So I did, even when I could barely walk. And I'm planning on going back tomorrow.  It feels good to sweat and be sore again.

 -3.2lbs

I'm proud of that!  I'm finally under my pre-pregnancy heaviest.  So I know I can do this.  It's going to take time.  But I'm ready and I'm committed.

The inches are slowing down but I'm still seeing progress and I'm hoping that working out will help keep this progress up.

Waist- No change

Chest- 43" (-0.5")

Hips- 39.5 (-1.5")

 I'm very satisfied with my totals for the first five weeks.  It hasn't always been easy but I'm so proud of the progress I've made.  I'm down almost 30lbs total since March and I feel like a new person.  I can't wait to see where the next month takes me!

Thanks for following along!

Weekend Fun

We had a fun, uneventful weekend.   It was just what we needed.  Patrick had to work some but the kids and I got caught up around the house.

Thursday, I picked Barrett up from school and we went to get a sno cone.  AveryAnn wore her smocked sno cone outfit for the occasion.

He was very excited about his first trip to Sno Shack.  (It was called Sno Biz when I was in school.  Most everyone still calls it that but I really like Sno Shack so I've adopted the new name.)

Friday we went to the library. (We've really slowed down with our reading but we're still loving our weekly trips to the library)  We found two painted rocks and Barrett was so excited.  He re-hid one and kept one.  We were supposed to go watch Moana in the park but the weather did not cooperate so we watched it in the basement instead.  Elizabeth and Clay stopped by and watched it with us.  Then a guy I went to high school with was fighting in the Bellator MMA fight on SpikeTV so we watched him.  (He won!)

Saturday morning Patrick went to work and we did laundry.  Fun, fun stuff.

His first job was at my friends house and she sent me this picture of her boys watching Patrick work.  I thought I was so cute!

Saturday evening, the Hortons had everyone over to celebrate my birthday.  She will not let your birthday pass without having cake and singing.   Patrick is on call the weekend before and after my birthday so we celebrated a little early.

The cake was so cute!

AveryAnn couldn't take her eyes off of it.

Sunday we got up and went to Mass and then to lunch at my parents house.  We had a good time and then I left the kids to go to a workout class.  Where I thought I might die.  I've never thrown up at a workout class and I immediately got sick when this was over.  Yall, it was only a 30 minute class.  It kicked my tail.  The instructor was in my class when I did bootcamp and he was so encouraging. I'm so glad I went and plan to go a few times a week. 

AveryAnn wouldn't take a nap for my parents but she curled up in my lap and went to sleep.  This doesn't happen very often so I soaked it up.

This is just funny.  My mom has the stuffed bunnies that she sits in little rocking chairs.  Well AveryAnn can't stand for them to be in the rocking chair because she likes to sit in the rocking chair so she always immediately throws them in the floor.  Well yesterday she got the bunny's pants and took them to my mom like she wanted to wear them. So my mom put them on her, and she wore them around the rest of the afternoon.  We laughed and laughed.

It was a great weekend, today Barrett and I both had dentist appointments.  One of us had a cavity and one of us didn't.  Surprisingly I was the one without.  Yay me!

Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 4

I survived vacation!  I'm so proud of myself. I stayed in ketosis the whole time I was at the beach.  It kind of felt like week one all over again because I just associate vacation with junk food and margaritas.  I'd brought several snacks that were keto but they definitely weren't the same as crackers and cookies.  I kept telling myself there will be a time when I can come to the beach and eat whatever I want.  This will not be my last trip.  Thankfully, our hosts are amazing on the grill and we had some amazing protein for dinner each night.  Everyone else ate twice baked potatoes that looked amazing but I was perfectly content with fresh grilled shrimp.  I did drink a few beers and counted them in my macros.  I got some halo top ice cream for a treat at night.  Don't get me wrong I would have loved to have margaritas and shrimp & grits but I decided it wasn't worth it.  I think the hardest meal was brunch because I really wanted shrimp & grits and a mimosa.  But I had steak and eggs and it was delicious.

I was so proud that I not only didn't gain any weight this week but I managed to lose a tiny bit.

-0.8lbs

Slowly but surely I'll get there.  I'm seeing progress and it's such a good feeling.

I've lost around 23 pounds between these two pictures.  I've got a ways to go but I'm so proud of how far I've come. 

Thanks for following along. :)

Beach Vacation 2017

Get ready for picture overload.    We just got back from a long weekend with our friends in Pensacola.  We're so thankful that they welcome us with open arms and take such great care of us when we visit.  My only request was a family picture of us on the beach not in swimsuits and Patrick's only request was dinner at Cobalt.  Luckily we managed to kill two birds with one stone the night we arrived and got some sweet pictures of our little family while we waited for our table at Cobalt.

Love these people!

Sister wasn't so happy about the situation.

She was not happy about the sand.  At this point I was thinking the weekend was going to be long if she couldn't stand the sand on her feet.

Barrett is growing so very fast.  He's still very much a little boy and he still kisses me and wants me to hold him, but he's also independent and can entertain himself.  It's a little bittersweet.

Our fearless leaders for the weekend.  They are saints to drag a giant tent to the beach so our babies didn't burn up.  They grilled better shrimp and steak that most restaurants and pretended they didn't hear our kid when they woke up at 6:30 every morning.  We always have such a great time with them and this weekend was no different.

Daddy's girl.  If she said "Daddy" once she said it 10,000 times.  It was both sweet and infuriating at the same time. 

Love these sweet babies.

She may say "daddy" a million times a day but she didn't want out of Mama's arms.

 

Until we got to the patio behind the restaurant.  Then she wanted to run as fast as she could making everyone nervous she was going to end up in the water.

Checking out the sunset!

The Air Show was this weekend.  They had a practice show on Friday and the real show was Saturday.  We opted to catch the practice show in hopes it wouldn't be as crowded.  Finding a place to park was a little tricky but we found a spot and made our way to the beach.  AveryAnn was just there for the snacks.

He hates loud noises so we got some noise cancelling headphones for him to wear. He was ready for the show.

Barrett wouldn't swim in the ocean without one of us. 

Miss Priss was dancing and having the best time.

We saw a few planes fly when we started to hear a little thunder rumbling.  We made our plans for when it got bad.  I was in charge of getting the kids to the car and my giant beach bag and the other three grabbed everything else.  (I got out easy on this one.)  Well I saw a lightening bolt and that was our que.  The kids and I headed to the car to see what would happen.  It wasn't much longer before everyone headed up.  It was raining and just gross.  We decided to call it a day and head back to the house.  We were sad we didn't get to see the Blue Angels fly but it wasn't worth waiting out the storm.  We decided to grill shrimp for dinner and it did not disappoint.

AveryAnn loved the corn on the cob.  I ate so much shrimp.  It was so good.

Day two we headed back out to the beach.  Another day, another snack.

Patrick was holding Barrett and she was so jealous.

Barrett enjoyed the sand but he wasn't too sure about the water unless we were with him.

I'm not proud of this but every time I sat down an empty can, she'd grab it and turn it up.

Matching swimsuits for life!  Barrett and I got out of the ocean and when we got back to the tent there were about 10 dolphins swimming around.  They stayed for the longest time and Barrett was so excited about it. 

All the boat traffic coming back from the Air Show.  It was crazy. 

We decided to grill a "Surf & Turf" for dinner and once again it was amazing. 

I got up and went to Mass Sunday morning and then we went to brunch at Fisher's.  It was so good.  I really wanted the shrimp and grits but I had the steak and eggs instead and it was delicious. 

I had to have Carla snap some pictures in our matching brunch outfits. 

She was so proud to be sitting on the swing.

Our last day AveryAnn finally decided the sand wasn't so bad after all.  She carried that bucket all around us.

Carla and Tony went to the restroom and on their way back to the sand they found 3 painted rocks.  One of them had two dolphins on it and Barrett quickly claimed that one.  He said it reminded him of the dolphins we saw the last time we were at the beach (the day before).  Carla kept one and we decided to hide the other one.  We hid it at the restaurant where we had dinner.  (Someone posted today they found it, Barrett was so excited!)  People recently started doing this in our area and now we're so excited to paint some rocks to hide.

Sand babies. 

We went to Sunset Grill for dinner.  It was yummy and the perfect ending to the weekend.  I let AveryAnn down at the end of our meal and she was walking around visiting with all the tables. 

We got up this morning and started getting ready to head home.  I think AveryAnn's got this relaxation thing down.  We were sad to leave but it's good to be home.  My uncle recently got moved to a VA assisted living home not far from Pensacola so we made a quick stop there to visit him.  It was good to see him and he just laughed and laughed at the kids.  There were several men sitting out in the halls and they all just had a fit over the kids.  It was a really nice visit with all the people we met.

We're back home, back to the routine.  I love the beach, but it's good to be home!