Sunday, March 31, 2013

Easter!

Jimmy worked this weekend, but we were still able to have some Easter fun.  I haven't been able to get Parker too interested in crafty things yet so this was the best picture I could get of me us dying eggs.


 He also had little interest in his Easter bucket, but he got some sand toys for the beach this summer.
 He also got some carrot bubbles and he really liked those.  He is concentrating on them hard in the this picture, but they are hard to see.
It was a great weekend with family and good food.  I am hoping to do some more interactive stuff with him next year since he will have more understanding.  I hope you all had a fabulous Easter.  

He is Risen

Saturday, March 30, 2013

4 Years

Jimmy and I celebrated our 4th anniversary on Thursday.  It seems like just yesterday and forever ago all at once!  We have been blessed these last 4 years.  Just a little stroll down memory lane.



We kept our celebration pretty low-key since we have some other expensive fun things planned for this year.  I made Jimmy a card that was inspired by this cute idea I found via Pinterest.  I simply used Word and different fonts to create mine.
I was also blessed with a lovely vase of flowers when I got home.  They really put a smile on my face!  They just scream SPRING!
We had a simple dinner at home and it was perfect!  I am so thankful for the amazing husband and son God has blessed me with.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Parker's First Dentist Visit!

I have been thinking about taking Parker to the dentist for some time.  Then, several weeks ago my friend Tamara from our ECFE class mentioned taking her daughter to a place called Camp Smile.  They are a pediatric dentistry office and offer free exams for children under 18 months.  Parker was in a bit of a crabby mood, but he did well overall.  We first met with a hygienist who asked about our and Parker's dental history and gave us a few pointers for starting him out right.  We got a list of foods that are harder on teeth to try to avoid.  I also learned that snacks like dairy and fresh fruits and veggies actually help to clean cavity causing sugars from teeth.  So, it is always a good idea to follow up a carby stack with some cheese or yogurt to help remove the sugar residue.  Milk can also contribute to cavities so we were told to limit it to meal times and stick with water or a small amount of juice at other times. 
Anxiously waiting for the Dr.
 Parker saw Dr. Bobbi Augustyn.  She was very nice and let him play with her light and mirror tool.

 
"What's she gonna do with this Mom?"
Then he got to lay down to get his teeth examined.  He was NOT a fan of this part, but that wasn't surprising.  His got a clean bill of health and we were told that he has some major molar action going on!  He fights hard when I try to take a look.
I am glad we are starting him early on the right road to dental health.  We got some fancy xylitol toothpaste and need to go back in about a year.  We can't wait to go back!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Growing Smaller

Warning: This is a LONG personal post.  So, if you just come for pictures of Parker (Dad) you can skip this one if you want!

When I first started this blog a year and a half ago it was to document my pregnancy and share my love of crafting!  Now that I have a very energetic toddler it is time to get into high gear towards "growing" the other direction.  I have been a heavier person for as long as I can remember.  Over the past 7 1/2 years my weight has fluctuated a LOT.  The first time I actively tried to lose weight was in the fall of 2005.  I was in college, living at home and working a part-time job.  I had time to spare.  I drastically changed my diet to a modified South Beach model.  I joined Curves and went almost every day.  I lost 20 lbs. my first month, 15 my 2nd, and was down 50 total in 3 1/2 months.  I felt amazing!  50 was my initial goal and I was so excited to be there.  I really wanted to lose another 35, but that never happened.  I maintained my weight for over a year, but never went down.

Then, I met Jimmy!  You know how new relationships can be.  Time for workouts gets traded for time together, healthy meals get traded for thrice weekly dates at El Loro.  By the time we were engaged 9 months later I had gained 30 lbs. back.  Then came the pre-wedding weight loss scurry!  I was able to drop 15 buy the time we got married in March of 2009.  Then life got away from me.  As much as I wanted to stay healthy, I also wanted to eat anything I liked.  I gained it all back and started my pregnancy with Parker at my original starting weight from 2005.

(Thanks) to gestational diabetes I kept my pregnancy weight gain to only 15 lbs.  I lost all of that and more after Parker was born, but I also didn't have to worry about my blood sugar anymore.  I creeped back up to what I weighed when I gave birth, the heaviest I have ever been.  I don't have many pictures  of myself from the neck down during that time, but this was taken just before I decided to jump back on the wagon.
I was 250 lbs. in this picture.  Whew...I guess that wasn't too hard to type.  If others can disclose their weight on national television, then I can disclose mine to the 10 (being optimistic?) people that read my blog!

It was at that point that I realized I was not in a healthy place for myself, my family and any future children I wanted to have.  I was also afraid of developing diabetes.  A disease that was much more likely since I had it during pregnancy.  I was avoiding going to the doctor because I didn't want to know.  My goal was to lose some weight and then go in.  I started out ok, losing 13 lbs. from November to February (over the holidays.)

Come February, I couldn't avoid the "doctor" anymore.  My work is doing a health initiative for a credit towards insurance premiums.  I love to save $$ and it was motivation to get healthy.  I was nervous to go to my screening.  Not to see my weight (I know I am obese) or blood pressure (always been normal), but for that pesky blood sugar reading.  My fears were realized when I got a fasting number of 291!  For those not familiar with blood sugar numbers, that is REALLY bad!  I even had to sign something saying that I would go to a doctor immediately.  I wasn't surprised, but I was devastated   I felt like I had let down myself, and worse, my family.  I was at the doctor within a week for additional screening.  I had blood drawn and made a follow-up appointment for the next week.

When the doctor walked in the next week he said, "I have good news and bad news, I think."  Bad news, my hemoglobin was very high.  This is essentially a 3 month average of your blood sugars.  It indicates that I am clinically diabetic.  There are a lot of things that can influence blood sugars like weight and stress (my job has been contributing significantly to this one in the last 6 months.)  So, what is the good news?  My thyroid stimulating hormone was almost 4x that of normal levels.  I have hypothyroidism, my body is not producing enough thyroid hormone.  Why is that good?  I would rather not have anything wrong with me, but this can also cause blood sugars to be elevated and make weight loss difficult.  Best of all, it is VERY treatable.  I will have to take a thyroid replacement for the rest of my life, but it will make me healthier.  I was also put on Metformin, which will help to stabilize my blood sugar.  I left the doctor feeling relieved   I was tasked with continuing to lose weight and I will have to come back after 3 months to make sure my thyroid dosage is good and see how my blood sugar has changed.

I have always found it easier to lose weight with a good motivator.  The threat of diabetes is a big one!  Not only is being diabetic kind of a pain in the butt, it is also REALLY expensive.  It has been a month since I found all this out.  I am down another 10 lbs. and am feeling very proud of myself!  I have an initial goal of 50, but I know it can't end there.  I try not to think of my ultimate goal too much because it seems so far away.  To reach it I will have to lose 100 lbs. total!  That will be an amazing feat.  It may take me a while (especially if another baby happens) but I will get there.

Thanks for drudging through this with me.  I have been doing a lot of research on the best ways to lose weight and maintain it so I will probably start sharing some of that too!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

15 Months

My toddler is 15 months old already!  Here are the highlights!

-Walking!  Walking became is main form of transport on Christmas Day
-Mimicking, he will copy most things we do.  This is fun because we can immediately see him "learning" things.  He also seems to maintain the remember most of the things he copies.
-Weaned from the bottle.  Just as I was wondering if he would ever get the hang of a sippy cup he self-weaned from bottles.  He just decided to stop drinking from them over the course of about 2 days.  It has taken a couple weeks, but I think we have finally found the right cup for him!
-Stranger Danger/clinginess, Parker is pretty timid around new people right now, which is normal.  He will easily go to Jimmy and myself.  It is also fun to see him go my dad!  His Grandpa loves to roll around on the floor and wrestle with him.  He can also be pretty clingy and get angry if Jimmy or myself leaves the room or goes downstairs.  I think it's a little endearing!
With Grandpa
We had his 15 month check-up on Tuesday.  Despite eating like a teenager, he remains skinny at just 21lbs (7%) and average for height at 31".  That was good news since he jumped 3 points in weight!  Our doctor isn't concerned as long as he doesn't drop off the chart.

Here he is at doctor!  This was before the shots, he was having a blast walking around the exam room!
Jimmy has also started to venture out with Parker more on his off days.  I think they both do better when they have outside stimulation.  This week they headed to Ridgedale for some window shopping and playing in Tiny Town.  Parker picked a nice ride!
Lastly, we have been trying to watch Husker basketball when we can, GO BIG RED!  They played the Gophers last night and WON!  Parker was in bed before tipoff, but he got some good pre-game time with Herbie!

Monday, March 4, 2013

St. Patty's Decor

It's the beginning of March and that means I need to update my skinny wall decor! I was blessed by my wonderful husband with a Silhouette Cameo for Valentine's Day. I have had fun playing with it, but this was my first REAL project. This was another Pinterest inspired project. The idea came from this The DIY Club post. The clover and words were cut on the Silhouette and using black and white photos creates a great contrast. This is another cheap one too! $1.25 for the canvas board, $1.19 for the ribbon and I had the paper on hand!  I strategically tacked the clover in place so I can easily switch out the pictures from year to year.