We've Come a Long Way (since) Baby

March 2012, One month after Luke's birth

July 2013, Family Vacation

The pictures above were taken 16 months apart.  16 months and approximately 183,256 hours worth of workouts apart.  

Now that I've lost the weight, I feel like I can come clean:  I gained 50 lbs with each of my pregnancies.  That's 5-0, y'all.  And actually, it was 50 with Audrey and 55 with Luke.  

Ridiculous.  Unhealthy.  Regretful.  

Getting it off took hard work.  I mean 4:45am-alarm-for-a-5:30-spin-class, 6:00am-runs-in-the-dark, passing-up-pizza-for-another-stupid-salad, being-so-sore-it-hurt-to-move kinda work.   And the kicker?  I'm still working.  I once read the maintenance phase of weight loss described as 75% of the work with 0% of the fun.  You don't get the thrills of seeing the scale go down or buying new clothes or people noticing the changes in your physique.  You just have to continue to bust your tail lest you hear the whispers "I knew she'd put it back on..." and have to start rummaging through the fat clothes pile you have stashed in your closet "just in case".  

I'm only about four months into this rejuvenated fitness stage.  (Sidenote:  After delivery, I was left with 35 lbs to lose.  The first 15 lbs came off relatively quickly from nursing and dieting in the months after Luke was born.  The last 20 came back so often I considered a restraining order until I finally got real about it and flipped the switch in April of this year.)  There is still work to be done and each week it's a commitment which path I'm going to choose.  

But can I tell you how awesome that second picture is to me?  How I would often visualize that picture during workouts before it even existed?  And truthfully, it isn't about how I look in that picture, though that's certainly a piece of it.  What I recall when I look at that picture is a Mama who had a horrific night's sleep the night before because my baby boy was up hour after hour.  But I know that that Mama chose to get up at5:45 and go run anyway.  And that Mama ran 10K on the beach that morning while watching the sun rise and praising God for legs that worked and a view that astounded.  And that Mama still had energy to jump waves with her very active four year old later that morning.  I see a woman who has her confidence back.  Who doesn't cringe at the image in the mirror anymore.  Whose clothes fit.  Whose arms and legs and heart are strong from lifting weights and running miles.

This is not a prideful thing.  This is a praise God I'm taking care of His creation again.  It's a if-I-can-do-this-anyone-can thing.  It's a happy thing.

No, the body of the woman in the second picture isn't 100% perfect.  (She is still sporting the board shorts, after all.  Those thunder thighs are large and in charge.)  She is nowhere near what Hollywood says she should look like.  But she's made at least a little peace with herself.  And she wishes and prays and hopes so hard that her daughter notices and emulates that attitude within herself.  

That's what I see.  I hope seeing that helps you visualize your image of change.

Thankful Thursday

Man, of all the blog updating I've missed, I've especially missed writing these "Thankful Thursday" posts.  Sometimes they got very tedious to do, but each week it forced me to open my eyes and focus on my blessings instead of my complaints.  With all God has given me, my gratitude should be evident but often it's not.  I also liked the challenge of trying to find unique gifts and sources of joy beyond the "big stuff".  So I guess you could say I'm thankful to be thankful again.  But I won't count that. :)  

Here is this week's list:

1.  AJ's healthy doctor's appointment.  Audrey had her four year old check-up on Tuesday and got a clean bill of health.  We have to take her to an ophthalmologist for a follow-up on her eyes because they were border-line poor vision based on the basic exam, but we can handle that.  Her Momma wore glasses then contacts and still had friends and landed a hottie, so she'll be fine.  

2.  $5 roses from Kroger.  An avid Publix shopper, we just recently went into our local Kroger for the first time since we moved (which is so huge it deserves a post in itself).  We walked past the gigantic floral department and Audrey of course wanted to stop and smell every bloom.  As she gushed over the roses, my eye caught a really pretty, uniquely colored bouquet.  She asked if we could get some and I explained that no, a dozen roses would be very expensive.  Then I noticed the "Sale - $5" sign.  That pretty color now looks gorgeous brightening up my kitchen.

3.  The unspoken understanding and "momraderie" between mothers.  At Target, I kept crossing paths with a woman who had a two little ones in tow.  Luke kept saying "baby" and waving to the younger one in the front of her buggy.  At check-out, we chatted a minute and I asked her their ages.  She told me 16 months and 4 1/2 years.  I laughed and pointed to Luke then Audrey, saying, "17 months and 4."  She laughed and said, "Then, yeah, you KNOW."  I nodded and assured her I did.  That moment of connection carried me through the parking lot hissy fit Luke threw.  

4.  Luke's surprise sleep-in.  My baby boy is an early bird, despite our endless attempts to assure him there is no worm to get.  He usually rises between 5:30 (if he does so that early, he comes in bed with us and catnaps another 45 min or so) and 6:30.  This morning he stirred around 6:00 as I was leaving for a run and I heard David getting up to handle him.  When I returned at 7:15, David informed me Luke was still asleep.  David left, I ate a leisurely breakfast, Audrey woke up, I took a shower and fixed her breakfast.  Luke decided he would join our day at 8:15.  That's a record, folks!  And boy, was the rest of our morning so nice.  Please, Dear Jesus, let it be a new trend!

5.  A $10 plastic wade pool that works great as a babysitter while I do yard work (an arm's length away, of course.)  At least until the toys it's filled with become lethal splashing weapons, that is.  But I guessing trimming a few bushes and pulling a couple of weeds is better than nothing.  Hopefully our HOA thinks so.  

Have a great rest of the week, y'all!

Trip to New Smyrna Beach 2013

After a nine hour drive, we arrived home last Saturday from a week at the beach with David's mom's side of the family.  It was a really, really nice trip.  Maybe it was because it didn't rain the whole time OR there were a million less bugs and subsequent bites OR I wasn't busy working on stuff for Audrey's birthday party OR I wasn't constantly worried about selling the house (and dealing with our first offer while down there) OR the fact that I didn't have a teeny three month old, but aside from the gorgeous wedding last year's trip held, I thoroughly enjoyed this year's trip much more.  For some reason. :)

The kids both did really well on the drives.  It helped that David's parents took shifts driving one of them in their car most of the way there and back.  Luke still isn't really into DVDs and obviously can't play a lot of games or do crafts like AJ, so he was a bit harder to entertain.  He burned through most of my carefully-planned activity box in approximately 90 minutes.  Still, with that, two short naps, and two stops, we made it.  The condo we had this year was very nice and right next door to where everyone else was staying.

Most of the week was a blur of pool, beach, sunscreen, and food.  Here are a few specific highlights I do remember:

 - Luke did NOT sleep well the first night.  I think he woke up terrified and it was the first time I can remember not being able to get him calmed down right away.  I finally had to clench him really tight, rock him fast, and sing in his ear before he began to relax.  Poor guy was just so confused and scared.  The rest of that night was really tough, but it got better as the week wore on.  I think I got more sleep last year when he was three months old!

 - I got in three beach runs this year, one of them a full 10K!  I have always wanted to be able to run to "the rocks" (6 miles round trip) and after years of vacationing there, we did it.  David and I were able to hold a conversation since it was so flat, which made it go by much faster.  It was gorgeous to see the sun come up over the ocean.

 - David and I squeezed in a date night one evening.  We walked around the little shops on Flagler Avenue, ate dinner at a local spot down there, drove over to our favorite dessert place and shared a huge sundae, rode around looking at massive beach houses, and then took a walk on the beach.  It was a great break and nice to have a change of scenery.

 - While we were on our date night, Audrey got to have a pizza party with everyone and open up a birthday present from her Aunt Barbara, Uncle Don, and cousins James and Kimberly.  She thoroughly enjoyed "partying" while Mommy and Daddy were away!

 - We also had a Mommy-Daddy-Daughter Date with AJ and took her to DQ for a hot dog and her first ice cream in a cone.  She was in heaven!  David joked that we were starting her out in the big leagues for it to be her first cone - leaning how to navigate eating that in sunny, hot Florida is a steep learning curve!

 - We loved staying up and playing Phase 10 with his parents.  Of course, we can't hang like we could in the old pre-kid days and only did odd or even phases so we could get to bed earlier. :)

 - There were approximately 1,000 stories told by Grandmom and Aunt Pat during the week.  Audrey much prefers them to reading books and I appreciated their creativity and patience!

 - We ate and ate and ate and it was goooood.  Grandma made flitters, eggs, and bacon multiple mornings for us and it's always worth the year's wait to scarf down those.  I threw all diet plans and healthy eating habits out the window for the week and it was a nice break.  The four pounds I gained, however, proved it did not go unnoticed by my waistline, but hey, it was vacation.

 - We let Audrey stay up and go on a crab hunt one night after dark.  We donned glow stick bracelets and watched a few fireworks on the beach before running after the tiny, FAST little boogers.  David's cousins James and Kimberly and his Uncle Don helped us spot them and James did a great job capturing them.  Audrey had a blast collecting TEN and then we let them go.  It was a sweet memory that I'm betting will become a tradition.

 - Audrey and Luke both loved playing in the sand this year, which makes going to the beach much more enjoyable!  They built countless sand castles and buried just about every shell we found in a "shell garden."

 - We got to stop by and visit my Great Uncle Ben and Great Aunt Bonnie for a little while.  It was really nice to see them and meet my third(?) cousin Randy.  They are the only living connection I have to my dad's side of the family and it was important for me to introduce Luke to them, hear their voices, and be a tiny part of their lives for an afternoon.

 - Audrey was much more brave about the ocean this year and loved jumping waves.  David and I took her out pretty far while holding her and she was less excited about that, but it's still a huge step from last year.

 - AJ also loved the pool and swam like a fearless fish at least 45 minutes to an hour every day.  Luke pretty much just tolerated it.  

 - David got in two rounds of golf with his Uncle and Pawpaw at a course he really enjoyed.  It means a lot to him to get to play with them, so I know he was thrilled.

 - I got in some blogging, updated Picasa albums, took two naps, and read an entire book.  Even with kids, it felt like a real vacation!  That makes one happy Momma!

We had a wonderful trip full of great memories.  I am so, so blessed to have in-laws that I truly enjoy spending a week with!  I appreciate all of them loving on us and our kids.  I am definitely detoxing from all of their help this week.  Only 50ish more weeks to go, right?!

Pics are up in the gallery.  Click this link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/112482511844513189984/TripToNewSmyrnaBeach2013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNj08fz3xqa5-QE&feat=directlink

Also, 4th of July/Peachtree Road Race pictures are up and can be viewed here:  https://picasaweb.google.com/112482511844513189984/4thOfJulyPeachtreeRoadRace?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPyLg63iksCTcw&feat=directlink

"Lately"...as in, the last 7 months.

Like dialing the number of (or, let's be a bit more current...searching FB for) a long-lost friend, I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to pick up the keyboard and write but just couldn't make myself because I felt too much time had passed.  The guilt that has hung over my head over dropping the ball on this and my other blog was almost bad enough to make me want to delete both accounts.  Almost.  

But then I remember that I love writing and chronicling my family's life this way.  And that twenty years from now, it won't matter that I missed a few (okay, seven) monthly recaps in the span of what I hope will be a years-long story.  Or maybe it will matter.  But I can't fix that and I've finally decided not to let it prevent me from picking up and starting again.  Though it may be the longest dry spell, it's not the first time I've disappeared from you and won't be the last.  But I'm willing to ignore the OCD perfectionist that tells me not to bother as long as you're willing to tune back in and read.  Ready?  Let's go:

So we moved.  In case you missed that.  Without pigs actually having to sprout wings.  It finally came through and we closed on December 11th and our first night in the new place was the 12th.  I pulled off Luke's 9 month check up and AJ's class Christmas party the day after we moved in with the help of my amazing husband and my co-room mom.  Somehow in the two weeks that followed, we got most decorations up, every card out, and all the presents wrapped in time. We had a great Christmas, albeit thrown-together and full of viruses.  We managed to uphold most of our traditions in the mayhem and make Luke's first as special as possible.  Santa brought Audrey a new dollhouse, some books, and some play-dough.  He left Luke a Racing Ramps garage, a crawling ball, and a book.  We put up a huge new tree that was given to us by a sweet friend's mother and filled it with old and new ornaments.  It was all a little disheveled, but we were in our new home together, and after the six months prior, that was all the Christmas miracle we needed.  On the 30th, my 30th birthday snuck up on me and I did manage to write a few thoughts about it here.  We are still so grateful for the friends and family that showed up to knock out a ton of projects (30, in fact!) at our new place as a gift to me and then celebrate with cake.  

January and 2013 rolled in and just as I got all of the Christmas decorations packed up, I hauled out every Rubbermaid container of baby clothes and gear we owned and began preparing for the huge consignment sale that is held at the fairgrounds twice a year.  I worked 2-3 hours a day for a month straight pricing 500 hangers' worth of stuff.  It was insanity, but when the check came a month after the sale, I realized it was well worth it.  Audrey started at her new school and took them by storm like we knew she would.  I still recall one of her teachers telling me the story of how she walked in on her third or fourth day and calmly told the Director that was monitoring the hall, "My name is Audrey Sinyard, I'm new, and I'm going to need some help finding my classroom."  Make no mistake, the child new exactly where she was going.  She just wanted to practice what I'd taught her in hopes she'd impress someone and get an extra smile out of a grown-up...it worked.  My sweet friend Kara and I also began a new semester of co-leading our women's bible study in January.

As soon as I got the consignment sale over with at the beginning of February, it was past-time to focus on Luke's first birthday party.  We were also trying to finish unpacking and doing lots of home improvement projects to make the house more presentable for the guests that would be coming since so many of them would be seeing it for the first time.  There was a roof leak and its subsequent water damage to the garage that had to be repaired, a hot water expansion tank that was replaced, the painting of the deck and play place (which we "outsourced"), and a ceiling leak in the kitchen.  Not to mention the actual cosmetic stuff I was trying to accomplish.  I think I began pulling his party stuff together approx. five minutes before the first guest arrived.  Actually, that's not true, but it's way closer to reality than I would have liked!  Still, it managed to be a wonderful time celebrating our big boy and everything turned out perfectly:  The train-themed decor, the warm bowls of chili with corn muffins for lunch, the gorgeous train cake my sister-in-law made, the hand-glued candy trains and "Little Engine That Could" book favors for kids,  the cotton candy "train smoke" favors for the grown-ups, the giant cardboard train cutout in the basement, my photographer friend that captured it all.  And, of course, the family and friends that came out to celebrate and shower him with gifts, hugs, and kisses.  We sent year one out with a bang.

In March, we appreciated our teachers, celebrated Christ's resurrection, dyed eggs, hunted eggs, endured a stomach bug (not related to eggs...I think), put Audrey in a new big girl bed, and ran a 5K.  David traveled for the majority of three weeks straight in March, so most of it is pretty much a blur.  

April brought about minor outpatient surgery for David, a massive master bedroom makeover (new paint, furniture, bedding, and pictures), AJ as flower girl in a friend's wedding, celebrating my nephew's 5th birthday, and a trip to a farm where AJ and I both milked a goat.  I'm sure there was an ear infection or cold in there somewhere, too.

In May, we celebrated Audrey's "pretend" birthday with her preschool class and also had a sweet Mother's Day tea there one Thursday morning.  My brother, sister-in-law, Mom, and I walked a Susan G. Komen 5K in celebration of my mom's early detection and felt so proud watching her jog across the finish line.  I got my annual day off around Mother's Day and spent it at Ikea, The Container Store, and the outlets before meeting David and the kids for dinner.  (I also decided I agree with a friend who recently declared that Mother's Day needs to happen about once every three weeks.)  The kids both got hand, foot, and mouth disease, which was awesome to hear Audrey tell everyone we ran into.  David began what turned into a ridiculous month-long cold to round out our six months of sickness.  I weaned Luke and felt all of the emotions that come with that chapter closing.  Audrey finished school a week before the "big kids" and I tried not to panic about the vastness of summer that stretched before us.  We cleaned out the spare bedroom and turned it into a craft/hobby room.  David was ecstatic to get his guitars back out and have a little real estate in his own home again.  We hosted a cookout for some friends from high school/college and loved seeing them and all of our chaotic kids we've added to the mix.  At the end of the month, David turned 32 and we took a glorious night away in Dahlonega while the kids stayed with his parents.  We shopped, saw a movie for the first time in almost two years ("The Great Gatsby"), ate delicious uninterrupted meals, slept 9 consecutive hours, hiked in the North Georgia mountains, and took a nap on a dock.  It was fantastic.

June was my big girl's 4th birthday, and we tea-partied our hearts out.  She dressed up in a pretty blue and white floral print sleeveless dress with fancy ruffle socks and white patent-leather mary janes.  Of course she added a boa, gloves, and a hat from her "accessorizing corner" we set up and then made a jeweled bracelet with her friends.  There were petit fors, finger sandwiches, chips, and fruit kabobs for the kids and chicken salad croissants, fruit, chips, and Italian pasta salad for the adults.  She sat tall in a pretty white wooden chair and opened gift after gift.  Afterwards, we let the kids take turns swinging at the pinata Audrey requested (I managed to find a teapot one!) and finally, after multiple unsuccessful attempts, let David break it open.  Then we chowed down on the gorgeous teapot cake my sister-in-law Jenny made.  The little guests left with a Fancy Nancy Tea for Two book and chocolate pretzel stick and the grown-ups got a teacup, saucer, bag of tea, and honey stirring spoon.  It was a blast to put on and Audrey loved every minute of it.  In June I also ran my first solo 5K and came in first in my age group...who cares that there were probably only 150 people in the whole race?!  We painted the dining room, removed the hideous basement mirrors and painted the main room down there, and did some major pruning and trimming in the yard.  Audrey started a six-week ballet class with several friends through the parks and rec department and also took a week of swim lessons at our neighborhood pool.  Of course one of the best moments of the year so far happened on the 7th, when 15.5 month old Luke finally decided to take his first steps.  Oh my mother's heart was so thrilled!  To keep up with those two, I joined a gym for the first time since 2008.  I figured after spending four of the last five years pregnant or nursing, it was time to take my body back.  Or at least salvage what I could.  We topped it off with a case of 5th's Disease right after Audrey's party and an ear infection somewhere in there for both of them.  

So that has been a very brief summary of our lives over the past seven months.  While rereading and proofing it, I realize several things 1) we've been sick a lot 2) we've had a ton going on and stay very busy, BUT 3) we've also been doing some really cool things and making great memories.  I love our new house.  It's really starting to feel more like home.  And the people in it?  Well, I wouldn't trade them for the world.  

Hope you'll come back soon for what I plan on being much more frequent updates.  In the meantime, check out the Picasa links below.  Yes, I updated the gallery too.  You're welcome.  :)

May 2013:  https://picasaweb.google.com/112482511844513189984/May2013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCObshaTRn8ucag&feat=directlink

Audrey's 4th Birthday and Tea Party: https://picasaweb.google.com/112482511844513189984/AudreyS4thBirthdayAndTeaParty?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKTBoMPsyMfo1wE&feat=directlink

June 2013:  https://picasaweb.google.com/112482511844513189984/June2013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCO6L2Z3Y-8DFKg&feat=directlink