Owen - on your second birthday

Owen,

My oldest, my firstborn, the child who made me a mother and taught me all about a new kind of love - you constantly astound me with your strength, your intelligence, your will, but most of all with your heart. Today, you are two years old - you are speaking in sentences that get longer and clearer each day, you love and protect your brother in ways that I couldn't even begin to imagine or hope for before you made them a reality. You are such an amazing little boy, and you are just that, a little boy - each and every day you are less my baby and more boy - and it is breaking my heart into pieces - both with sadness at the loss of the baby that you were and with pride and joy at the boy that you are becoming. My love for you grows each day at a rate that even you can't keep up with - although you are growing far more quickly than I'd like and soon I will no longer be able to fit you neatly in my arms - so I will soak up all the time I can holding you, carrying you, cuddling you, and loving you every way that I know how. 

They say that two is terrible and I've heard tell that three is worse, but I'm not going to accept that for us my dear boy. You are just so sweet and loving and smart - and sure you are testing each and every boundary that you reach, but together we are going to navigate this time successfully and we are going to make sure this time is joyous rather than frustrating. 

So, here is to embracing boyhood and all the messy and sticky and stinky and beautiful bits of it! I can't wait to see what you have in store for me next! 

Love you more than words can say!

Mom

Operation 9 Months Off - Week 1

Well, it's been one week since I shared where I am starting out postpartum and my goals for where I want to end up by next here - let's see how I did! 

Here's a reminder of the rewards I have planned for reaching weight loss goals:

Reach 0 point (post-Owen/pre-Noah weight): Get my eyebrows done

-5 pounds: Massage

-10 pounds: Manicure/pedicure

-20 pounds (pre-Owen weight): New woven wrap - a shortie 

-30 pounds: Haircut/color

-40 pounds: Overnight date/mini vacation 

-50 pounds (goal weight): New wardrobe (I'll need it!) 

How did I do this week:

Overall, not well at all! We left Wednesday morning when J was post-call to head up north to J's parent's house - then Thursday morning we ventured even further north to visit a lake and spend the weekend fishing and enjoying family cabin time for Owen's birthday! It was a great time, but long road trips don't really facilitate exercise or sticking to calorie goals (we decided to cheat and not count car snacks - because they are a necessity!) 

Activity Goals: 

1. Workout/video 3x/wk - FAIL - didn't do this a single time :(

2.  Run/walk 3x/wk - FAIL - didn't run a single time either

3. Stay under calorie goal 6x/wk PASS (sorta) - I was 350 calories over one day this week and under 6 days (except for car snacks one other day, but those don't count, right?!)

4. Reach 10,000 steps 4x/wk FAIL - 1/4 days

5. Reach 10 flights of stairs every day -  FAIL - 4/7 days

6. Drink 100oz of water/day - FAIL - 2/7 days - although 6 days I had over 48 oz which is fitbit's water goal

Measurements: 

Waist (smallest point): 35" - +1/2in

Hips (largest point): 45" - +1/2in

Arms: 12" - same 

Thighs: 25" - same 

Chest: 41" - +1in

Weight: +9.7lb (54.7lbs from goal weight) - up 5 pounds since last week

Eek! Well, that's definitely not the direction that I wanted to see any of those numbers going - but it is reality and sometimes that happens as you figure this stuff out. All of these numbers were taken at 8 in the evening after eating and drinking all day - immediately after getting home from our lake trip - so I'm hoping the numbers are negatively inflated from travel and they'll be balanced back out by next week after a few normal days back at home with normal water intake and sleep, etc. 

xxfingers crossedxx that vacation bloat is all that this weight gain is - because even though my activity level was a little low (combined 20 hours in the car over 5 days) - and my water intake was low without my brita (relying on purchased water bottles in limited supply) - my calorie intake truly wasn't that bad! We'll see, after next week it may be time to pull out the big guns and sign up for weight watchers!

weekends...

Of the last 5 weekends, J has been on call during 4 of them. Friday/Sunday call; one weekend on, one off, two on...so this upcoming weekend is the first in what seems like forever that we will actually have J around. With Friday/Sunday call, he goes into work on Friday morning, arriving home somewhere between 9am-1pm depending on what is going on that morning, traffic, and stops he needs to make on his way home. He is of course tired, but usually powers through to spend the afternoon/day with us unless it was a particularly rough night. Then he's back at work early Sunday morning and home again around the same time Monday - Monday's are less likely to be early ones with him getting home in time for lunch rather than breakfast. Then we go trudging on into a normal work week - so it doesn't really feel like a "break" for any of us.

Anyway, on to the excitement, we are so anticipating a real live weekend that we feel like we have need to do something big and momentous and exciting - regular weekends have become to us what holiday weekends must feel like in other homes - we marvel at the concept of an evening followed by two entire days of family togetherness. So, of course, that naturally moved to ROAD TRIP! We considered all directions since we're pretty much in the middle of the country there are a variety of things 5-10 hours away in any direction. Unfortunately, there aren't all that many weekend trips that are toddler friendly at the last minute. So, we are headed up North to see the in-laws...and it was actually MY idea! Can you believe it? J couldn't. I've been feeling a little lonesome for family time, since in the desert we saw my family pretty much every other week...and now they are a 3 day drive away, but the in-laws are only 7 hours away (longer with Owen - but it's supposed to be 6 1/2 hrs).

So, wish us luck - it's going to be a whirlwind - driving Friday night, a day and 1/2 in the north land, and hurrying back home before bedtime Sunday night! Better get back to packing, daddy's on call and I don't want to waste any time when Owen is asleep!

And just for some final cuteness - that's my boy - playing outside - in the rain - in a diaper & a sock - I mean come on "where is that boy's mother?"