Wednesday, September 30, 2015

September Highlights

September was busy busy busy for us! Not only did school start again for Jillian, but most of our other activities started as well. Trying to get in the swing of things while keeping up with carb-cycling wasn't easy, but I feel like by the end of the month, I got the hang of it. Lots of good stuff going on in our world :)

{Jillian started preschool the first day of the month! Even though she has all new classmates, she seems to enjoy school very much :)}

{David took a selfie while Mama worked on stuff at the church. Since my screen is locked, he can only access the camera. I have several pictures of the floor/floor + his foot! HAHAHA}

{Jillian dressed herself and wanted to wear her shirt backwards. I'm picking my battles, so she can wear her shirt backwards anytime!}

{I created a new look for a bulletin board at church for the youth! It's a work in progress, and not as easy as it looks. I'm very impressed with teachers who have amazing bulletin boards!}

{Phil got a brand new phone because his old one had a million cracks in it. He was getting glass splinters :( Jillian decided to fix the old one with her play doh! How sweet ;)}

{Jillian and her daddy had a campout in our living room to celebrate the first full week of school!}

{She had a blast! David enjoyed playing in it too :)}

{I was really craving Chinese food for my free day one Sunday. Unfortunately, some of my choices were making me sick. We took a family day trip to the Asian market, and made our own General Tso's chicken! The chicken was baked, so my stomach loved it as much as my tongue!}

{Over Labor Day, we decided to finally organize our garage! With the help of Phil's brother, it went from this...}

{to this! So far we've kept it clean. And yes, both cars fit in there.}

{A friend from church started a book club for this book. I bought in on Amazon, and I really enjoyed it! Having a book club is really fun, so we're trying to come up with ways to hang out when we've run out of book to discuss}

{I got my hair refreshed, and feeling good!}

{I don't get enough time with this guy. I really do love him, and I love getting to do life with him :)}

{I told Phil that I wished our kids could have the video store experience that we did as kids at Blockbuster. He reminded me that there is a video store still open near our house. We drove over, signed up for membership, and have started doing Family Movie Nights! On payday, we will go to the store, pick out videos and snacks, put on pjs, and lay on sleeping bags and pillows to watch a movie together. It's nothing big or fancy, but something I want to do! Hopefully we can continue the tradition and the kids continue to enjoy it :) We of course started the inaugural one with a Mickey Mouse Movie ;)}

{Jillian made me a bead necklace and asked me to wear it. I was happy to oblige!}

{This is from school. Jillian is getting so good at coloring, and she really enjoys art!}

{David searched all morning for the perfect spot to eat his waffles. He decided right in front of the fridge would do :)}

{Round 2 of blood work}
{The first round was for my primary care physician. He wanted to check several things in my blood, but I had to be off Metformin for a full month before I could. I was only able to conceive and carry both Jillian and David by taking Metformin for my PCOS. However, my body is starting to regulate sugar on its own again. Overall, my bloodwork came back great, and the doctor is pleased with my weight loss. He is hopeful I can conceive and carry more children without Metformin, but told us to give it until January before asking for help. This picture was for a progesterone test with my OBGYN. Basically, Phil and I will be trying for a few months for Baby #3 without Metformin. I may or may not need help, but so far it seems like I'll need help with progesterone for sure. Having regular(ish) cycles and signs of ovulation without Metformin are good signs. We'll just have to be patient for now :)}

{We all went to a football game to support some of the high schoolers at church! We had a good time until...}

{Davey fell on some concrete :( Poor guy was really bruised and scraped! He was having a good time up until then though. A little popcorn calmed him down, and we stayed until the 3rd Quarter}

{The next day looked a little worse. Luckily, he healed within a few days}

{I got our fall decorations down from the attic. Jillian and David both started pulling apart my fall wreath, and scattering the fake spiders all over the house. Tis the season I guess!}

{We were invited to the ground breaking ceremony for Jillian's hearing clinic! We are so excited for them to get this amazing facility so that they can help so many others! I also loved that they incorporated faith into the majority of the ceremony}

{Breaking ground!}

{They let us sign a beam that will go in the building. Jillian wrote her (big) name all by herself!}

{I'm sure this was their favorite part of the night!}

{Jillian got her face painted like a Ninja Turtle! (She's really into the old 80's cartoon TMNT that Phil and I would watch as kids) She loved her make up!}

{She couldn't wait to show daddy!}

{These are some of my kids at church! We built a Tower of Babel out of grapes and toothpicks. I love these crazy kids, and our Wednesday nights together :)}

Like I said, it was pretty full, but we definitely had some good times. I'm sure it will only get busier from here!

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Carb-Cycling Update 2 {2 Month Progress}

Month 2 of carb-cycling was successful! No pictures this time, but next month is my 90 day check in. Expect pictures for that one :)

The Breakdown:- I am currently doing the Turbo Cycle from Chris Powell's book, Choose More, Lose More for Life. This specific cycle may or may not change in the future. We will see- Still not working out yet. Trying to figure that all out
- I am taking vitamins and calcium supplement everyday

Struggles:- Having to go to multiple grocery stores. (or purchase online), to get what I need to be successful. It's more annoying than anything really- Being around treats when it's not my free day. I can say no, but it's hard when I just want to do what everyone else is doing- Feeling like I need to start at least doing toning exercises, but not really knowing where to start. No money for a gym, so that'll be a factor too

- My guilt free meals are starting to upset my stomach a little. After eating well for long enough, my body isn't sure what to do with greasy fast food anymore. Had to get creative with my cravings this month!

What's Been Easy:- I still love the structured plan.- My guilt-free reward day is always great!

- I feel like more of my close friends and family are used to what I'm doing, so I get less questions. Not that I mind talking about it, I just feel awkward sometimes.

Non-Scale Victories (NSV):- I can put on and take off my size 18 pants without unzipping or unbuttoning them!
- I can drink 1 gallon of water a day without a second thought. Drinking less makes me feel dehydrated
- Staying on plan despite an active schedule- Wedding ring is getting less tight on my finger

- Others are starting to notice changes!- Getting great support from my parents, as well as my husband :)

The Nitty-Gritty Numbers:
{Starting Weight} - 225.8{Current Weight} - 203.8


Inches Lost - 7" Overall
Most Inches Lost - 2" in waist

Overall, I would say it has been a successful month! Next check in will be my 90 day weigh-in where I wanted to hit 200 pounds as the goal. I'm confident I'll hit it!


Friday, September 25, 2015

That Feeling In Church

I'm so thankful it's fall! I love this time of year :) I'm hoping to make a new wreath for our front door, but we'll see when I have time.

Wednesdays and Thursdays are going to be extra long days for us. Once everything is in full swing, (I'm just missing Handbell practice for now), we will be at church from 5-8:30 pm Wednesdays, and 6-9 pm on Thursdays. This doesn't include the 25-30 minute commute to/from our house, plus Jillian has preschool both of those mornings. I try not to schedule any doctors' appointments or anything if I can help it, but that doesn't always work out. Don't get me wrong, I love this! I'm not sure I'd know what to do if we weren't this busy. And despite Jillian throwing a fit about not wanting to go home while David runs down the hall as fast as he can so he doesn't have to go to the car, (and trust me, he's fast!), I'm secretly glad they are so happy at church. I'm glad it's a place they don't want to leave. I'm glad they are comfortable there :)

I had a conversation with my friend, Angie, the other day. She made a comment about how someone once told her that they felt like the only broken person at our church. That they are the only one with issues, and that these perfect people attend a perfect church and they are the black sheep. While a part of me laughed because I know our church is far from perfect, it really got me thinking. I can see where they came up with that idea. Most people I know, at our church and other churches across the world, don't mention what they did wrong that week. Most of us go, and don't bring up what our struggles have been or why we are in desperate need of Jesus. Then I wondered about myself.

Growing up as a pastor's kid, or PK, is a completely different experience than any other child at the church. Even if your parents are well-intentioned, and do their best to give you a "normal experience," it will still be different. This is not necessarily a bad thing. One positive thing it instilled in me is the importance of church family. Having a relationship with those you worship next to is very important. In every church family I've had throughout my life, I do have those whom I trust with my brokenness. There are a few people in my church family who know that extent of me. When I come in on Sunday morning, it is not my intention to deceive anyone else at church. I'm not a walking band-aid! Instead, my thought is, "Jesus loves me despite myself, these people love me despite myself, so let's take a deep breath, give a sigh of relief, and worship God!" That's what I experience every time I walk through those doors for worship.

I'm not sure if I can personally remedy that person's perception of our church. I just know that I am now more aware of my actions and words, and I hope that will ease some of that in some way :)

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Monday, September 21, 2015

David's First Haircut

On July 11th, David got his first haircut! I waited as long as I could because I didn't want him to lose those precious curls. I know he's a boy and all, but they are adorable! Anyways, Phil and his dad kept asking when we were getting his haircut, so I finally caved. My hair appointment before I left on the mission trip was a great time to do it. Of course, I had to take a few pictures of him before we left for the salon!
{The view from the back}

{David's curls look a lot like my brother's when he was a toddler}

{That sweet face! He's my little cherub baby <3}

My MIL met us at the salon, and was kind enough to take pictures for us! I got my color in to set, and then Miss Sarah was ready for David. I came prepared, and he did well for the most part! I was told he did very well, but he had a few freak-out moments. {There may have also been a small sucker-in-the-hair moment as well.} All in all, Miss Sarah did a great job with his hair, and David did well for a first time! And the best part is his hair still has some curl to it :)
{Not a big fan of the spray, even though it's just water}

{Checking out Miss Sarah to make sure she's not up to something ;)}

{Sucker in each hand. He was relatively calm here!}

{Almost done}

{His sweet baby curls}
{I didn't keep them because I didn't keep Jillian's}

{The finished product! He looks happy, no?}

{Sweet boy! It was a little harder leaving him for my mission trip because he looked like such a big boy :'(}

I didn't get a video of him, but these pictures will suffice. Plus, it would mostly be of him yelling out every 2 minutes, and shaking his head no. Plus, I have the memory of it ;) 

It's so funny to me because he just does not enjoy it at all. However, Jillian adores getting her hair cut! She is always ready to jump in the seat and get a trim. I think we have a diva on our hands! You can read about Jillian's first haircut here.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Jillian's First Day of 3 Day Preschool


Jillian is thrilled to be back in preschool! She has a new teacher, and a brand new class, and she did great on her first day!

She is the oldest kid in her class, which is for the best I think. She has been the youngest in any class or program we've put her in thus far. It'll be a good experience for her to experience being the older one. It does make me sad that none of her friends from class last year are in her class this year. She has no issues making friends, but it may make the adjustment just a tad harder than normal.

We are at the same preschool as last year, which is run by the church we attend! She is familiar with the building, and is very comfortable being there. Plus, we feel like it's a great school! Her teachers are great, and they have already done a few things in an effort to help with her hearing loss. As a mother, I very much appreciate that!

Jillian does well with drop off, but she is a tad weepy most days in class. Her initial response to anything is to cry. That means she usually gets time out at least once every day. However, her teacher is already reporting a difference in her ability to calm down, as well as follow directions the first time. {Something we are certainly working on diligently at home!}

Overall, she is very happy and is enjoying school. I pray that we can continue to foster that love of learning for most of her life :)

Here are some outtakes of our little miss on her first day of preschool! No pictures with the parents because she was ready to get inside and get going!
{Still a little sleepy}

{Her big smile that I asked for ;)}

{Cheeeeeeeese}

{David wanted in the picture too!}

{Right after this was taken, a fight started. Oh sibling love...}

{This conversation really took place}
{Me: Jillian, can I take your picture outside the sign?}
{J: Umm, maybe after school.}
{Me: Oh please Jillian? It will be real fast!}
{J: (half-heartedly) Alllllright}

{Me: Jillian, look at the camera and smile!}
{This is the resulting picture HAHAHA}

And a comparison of last year. She looks so grown up!

But I Know What It Feels Like

This post is going to be awfully vulnerable and hard for me, but I really want to finally say it out loud. I got permission for my daughter ...