Almost Two

Dear Bun,

You are one week away from being a whole TWO YEARS OLD. Like everyone has said at one time, "Where does the time go?"
Today I bought you a hairbrush. It wasn't just any ol' kiddie hairbrush. It was for an adult. Because the baby combs and brushes we have for you just don't cut it anymore. In fact, you and I have been sharing a hairbrush for a month now because you just have that much hair! (You can thank me and your daddy later for that.)
You are walking, you are talking and the world is your oyster. I knew it would be fun seeing the world in your eyes. And it is. But I think it's even more fun watching you discover the world. Your sheer joy is intoxicating and addicting. I just want to see you happy over and over again. Icky sweet? Maybe. But I don't care.
I can't wait to take you to one of my favorite places in the whole wide world. I know it's going to be one of your favorites too because you like the beach! By the way, Baby, later on you will see that not all beaches are the same and that there are some that are way better than others. And I'm taking you to one of the best. At least, in my limited knowledge but I have it on good authority that it really is;)
It's funny, a co-worker asked me if I was excited to go on vacation because I'll be able to relax.
Baby, I love you but there is no relaxing vacation with you. And that's OK! I explained to my colleague that it's different now that I have a baby. Vacations aren't relaxing anymore but the trade off is getting to see everything through your eyes. And sure, relaxation is a wonderful thing (your mama loves her some sleep), I know that these days aren't forever. I know that, one day, you will be more independent. And then, one day, going on vacation with your parents isn't going to be your #1 choice. (Thinking about that makes me wonder how many times I broke your grandparents' hearts:( You remember that, Bun.) So despite the fact that vacations are no longer about R & R, I'm excited to go. I'm excited to be with you, your Daddy, Nana and Papa and being with so many people I love in one place. Sure, I fully expect your Nana and Papa to drive me nuts with their shenanigans. But without you even knowing it, you have taught me to treasure every moment in life because it all goes by so very fast.
Happy almost birthday, my big girl.

I love you,
Mama

So Shutterfly will give me $10 off my next purchase if I post this ...

Very Merry Montage Christmas Card

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So of course I did! Got a jump start on Christmas cards (only because of another fantastic promotion Shutterfly offered ... I really should be making money off of these plugs). We will have another version since we are taking holiday photos but thought I'd play around with the photos we have so far.

At pre-pregnancy weight. Boo-yah.

There are some ladies who can lose all the pregnancy weight they gained within a matter of weeks. In fact, there was one mama in my Mommy & Baby group who was in skinny jeans within the first month. I was NOT one of those ladies. I gained a total of 30 lbs. Oh, I know I was lucky. "Thirty pounds?!" some friends exclaimed. "That's nothing! I gained [enter a much larger #] pounds!" Yes, yes. I know that it could have been worse for me. But here was the problem. The first 20 lbs melted off like butter (thanks, Baby Blues!) but the last 10 were amazingly sticky. Then it became 10-15 lbs that stuck around. That might not seem much but it's roughly three dress sizes on my 5'1" frame. Over a year and a half later, I was still struggling w/ those 10-15 lbs. I don't know much about weight loss (obviously) or the complex workings of the human body. What I do know, and what I've even read somewhere to confirm my beliefs, is that your body has a memory. Just like muscle memory but FAT MEMORY. Sure at my skinniest I was 20 lbs lighter than my weight right now. But my body hasn't seen that number since I was 17 years old and very briefly when I was 25. I know it isn't realistic of me to shoot for that number because my body just hasn't really been at that number for a looooong period of time. But my body has been at what I've chosen as my goal weight for many years in my early and late 20s. It has been quite some time, as well, but I believe it's achievable. And I'm just now 10 lbs to it. What's changed? Several factors, I believe. I've always known what I needed to eat in order to lose weight but I wasn't willing to give it up. I loved bread, pasta and sweets. Mmmm, carbs. I knew I should cut back but it seemed like too big of a sacrifice. And when I cut back a little and didn't see results, I said "Eff it". After posting for a second or third time about my weight loss effort on Facebook, a friend messaged me and politely (without any pressure!) recommended a book that helped her lose 22 lbs. When she told me it didn't require her to do much cooking and she was still able to stick w/ it, the 22 lbs was enough testimonial for me! The other factor that helped quite a bit was that The Man was (and still is) training for a race. It's a pretty rigorous one and he decided to take his training uber-seriously. In addition to working out six days a week, he also cut out a lot of carbs in his diet. While we are not on the same diet plan, not having temptations in the house helped A LOT. I am weak. I love tasty food. But if it's not in the house and accessible, it's a lot easier for me to not eat it. Also, quite frankly, the peer pressure of having someone else in the house trying to lose weight and get in shape is a great motivation for me. We stock up the house w/ lots of protein and I have found a couple of items that help me w/ my sweet tooth. While I do not join him in his workouts every day, I do them about twice a week w/ him as well as my own light exercises. Side note: If you ever done the workout DVDs, "Insanity" or "P90X", you know that those are no joke. So I feel very content w/ my 2x a week with him! Yes, I stumble and cheat on my diet. I'm sure if I stuck to it 100%, I'd lose weight a little faster. But I'm really proud of myself because I HAVE stuck to it most of the time and am seeing results. I don't know my exact starting weight because I was doing my own thing prior to this diet but I've lost about 10 lbs. I realize that it is typical woman of me to fret about weight. But you know what? It IS a big deal to me and it does affect how I feel. It means a lot to me to get to my goal weight because I'm putting forth effort. And I really want to succeed. So I'm going to chip away at this and lose these last 10 lbs! Wish me luck.