Day 1

This is it. Day 1 of accountability for me starts now. I've had enough and I'm making a change.

Honestly, I haven't felt this way in awhile. Maybe a little, but definitely not to this degree. I believe I was a senior in high school the last time. What am I talking about? Tunnel-vision determination. Having a specific goal and not letting anything stop me.

My weight is out of control. The pounds melted off for the few weeks I was able to breastfeed. I got down to 4 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. I was SO happy.

Then I lost my supply.

Then my body started storing again.

I have always been worried about developing diabetes. I have one grandparent on either side of my family that developed Type II. Now that I'm on Metformin, I realize how close I am to developing it myself.

And? I want to be the type of mother than can keep up with her baby. It's not so bad now, but I want to be the best mama for Jillian I can. This means taking care of myself. Plus, I'm tired of avoiding any photos or videos we do of Jillian. I want to be comfortable taking pictures with my daughter!

I figured that by posting the embarrassing stats on my public blog, that will also help me get a kick in the butt that I need. It's one thing to say you're overweight, but another to admit just how bad it has gotten.

Here goes nothing...

Starting Weight: 235.6
Starting Upper Arm: 15"
Starting Chest: 45"
Starting Waist: 39"
Starting Hips: 50 1/2"
Starting Thighs: 27 1/2"
Starting Calves: 18"

Starting Photo:

Today was the first day. I'm tracking what I'm eating and I re-started my Biggest Loser workout video series. I started it once before but gave it up after awhile. This time? I'm gonna do it! You know how I can tell I have that motivation again?

I woke up this morning feeling really tired, (though that's commonplace right now). I figured losing an hour of sleep was the main culprit. I almost skipped working out like I had been planning. I sucked it up and went to the living room to start. Then halfway through the first workout? I felt sick. I'm talking first trimester, look-out-I'm-gonna-blow kind of sick. I paused the video and chilled out by the toilet just in case. I didn't actually throw up and I started to feel better after about 6 or 7 minutes. I got up and finished my workout. I could have just stopped there, but I knew it was important.

I've made every excuse before.

"I can't workout because the downstairs neighbors will hate me for making all that noise."

"I'm too tired this morning. One day won't hurt."

"I'll start tomorrow."

No. I'm starting today. Wish me luck :)

Video Killed the Radio Star

We interrupt the normal writing portion of this blog to bring you four videos!

Last Sunday night, Jillian was really trying to roll from her back to her belly. She didn't quite get there, but it was definitely progress :)


If you follow me on Twitter, I talked about how Jillian laughed for the first time on Thursday night! However, when I got the camera to capture this wonderful moment... it died. Not only that, but it died right before she laughed for the last time. le sigh. Anyways, this is the missed moment.


Last night, we tried getting her on camera splashing in her tub. This is what we got.
Disclaimer: No naked babies in this video. She was covered by a washcloth :)


Finally, I was playing with Jillian this morning and I got two little laughs on camera!! They don't really happen until 1:47 and 2:03. Enjoy :)


Happy Saturday!

"Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles from The Age of Plastic

Outside vs Inside

Even though today is cloudy, rainy, cold, and stormy, it's a great day here at the Casa de Coghill. Why you may ask? Well, I'll tell you...

First of all, Jillian and I had a great time at the mall with Miss Addi Claire and her mama Ashley yesterday! I didn't get any pictures of Jillian's first mall excursion, but we walked around and even found an Easter dress for Jillian. Despite a poop explosion at the end which caused a huge mess in the back of the Jeep, (thank goodness for non-cloth seats!), we had lots of fun.

Second, Phil got his full time offer for a job! I won't get into any big details, but it's a local start-up company and we're very excited for this opportunity! It does mean we're staying in town for several more years which is not what we original planned to do when we were first married. However, I think it suits us for now and we just need to focus on getting Phil done with grad school. His defense date is set for April 2nd, so it'll be here before we know it.

Third, Jillian's pregnancy book came in yesterday! What is that? Well, it's a little thing I've been working on since the beginning of January on Shutterfly. I had two different coupon codes for Shutterfly and I've heard great things about it before. I decided to put all my belly pictures to use and made this for Jillian. I spent hours on this and I'm SO thrilled with how it turned out! I really hope Jillian loves this. I hope to make one for any future children we may be blessed with. Here are some highlights!

{The Front Cover} 

{First Trimester} 

{Second Trimester} 

{Belly Pictures} 

{Third Trimester} 

{Her Birthday/Hospital Stay} 

{The Back Cover}

Fourth, I have picture to share of Jillian as always :)

{Holding her bottle like a big girl}

{Laying on her daddy's baby quilt that her great-grandma Eleanor made for Phil} 

{What a proud grandma! This is before we left Tulsa to come home} 

{Hanging out with mama this morning} 

{Love this sweet face}

I hope y'all are having a great Thursday no matter what it looks like outside :)

Moroccan Chicken with Couscous

{Moroccan Chicken with Couscous}

During my first trimester with Jillian, I was sick as a dog. No food tasted, sounded, or even smelled good. From that point on, I was completely disinterested in cooking. This was hard for me because I used to love to cook. In fact, for Valentine's Day of 2011, Phil and I made a special dinner together. That was one of the best dates we've ever had.

Once Jillian came, I was too tired to cook. I really didn't care what I ate as long as someone stuck something in front of my face.

I'm happy to say that I'm finally back to enjoying cooking again! It certainly helps that I'm finally getting in the swing of things as a SAHM. I have several recipes that I get from magazines and TV shows. Around the middle of February, we had a little mini-magazine in our Sunday paper that contained a few slow cooker recipes. One in particular sounded really good! I made it on Tuesday night and we'll be having the leftovers tonight. If I altered anything in the recipe, I make note of it using italics. It's really not that spicy either. If you like that, great! If not, I'm sure you'll be able to figure out how to spice it up a bit :) I hope you enjoy it too!

Moroccan Chicken with Couscous


Prep Time: 20 minutes (35 if you have to skin the chicken thighs yourself like I did)
Total Time: 4 hrs 20 minutes (8 hrs 35 minutes because I cooked it on Low instead of High)
Serves: 6 (4 because we had less chicken to start with)


Ingredients
1 (12 oz) bag frozen butternut squash cubes (I couldn't find this so I used 1 16 oz bag of frozen yellow squash)
2 tomatoes, chopped (I used 1 tomato because Phil is not a huge tomato fan)
1 onion, chopped (I used 1/2 of a white onion)
2 tsp minced garlic (per Coghill family tradition, I used about 1 1/2 Tbsp of minced garlic - we love garlic)
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup raisins (I omitted this)
2 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
3 lb bone-in, skinless chicken thighs (I couldn't find 3 lbs exactly. I used 2 1/4 lb of bone-in and skinned the thighs myself. It's messy but doable)
1 (10 oz) box couscous (I only made 2 servings instead of the whole box)
1/2 cup pitted black olives, halved (We love kalamata olives so I used 1/3 cup of pitted and halved kalamata olives)

Directions
1. In a large slow cooker, combine squash, tomatoes, onion, garlic, chickpeas, both, and raisins. In a small bowl, stir together coriander, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and cayenne. Rub spice mixture into chicken.
2. Arrange chicken in a single layer atop vegetables in slow cooker. Cover and cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
3. Prepare couscous according to package directions. Fluff with a fork. Stir olives into slow cooker. Serve chicken and vegetables with couscous.

Per serving: 710 cal, 89g carbs, 60g protein, 13g fat, 190mg chol, 760mg sodium, 11g fiber

{Mmmmm}

Happy cooking!

Wordless Wednesday

{This may not count, but I don't care. This NEEDS to be shared. It is 30 minutes long, but it is worth it}

Simple Day

First of all, I want to send some love to Jessica at you are my color! She had her sweet baby girl on Feb. 28th, but baby has been in NICU since because she swallowed some meconium. However, she is going home today!! I know it's a huge relief that she's going home and I know Jessica and Ronnie are ready to start their new lives as a family of 3 :) Congratulations and I hope things continue to go well for you guys!

Today we ran some errands early on and now I'm finishing up the laundry my chores. I'm almost done and I'm pretty happy with how the place is looking for now. Even though we were gone for about 24 hours, I felt so behind when we got home. We're also trying a new recipe in the Crockpot tonight. It smells good already so I hope it tastes good too! I honestly think that's the best part of Crockpot meals... how it makes the place smell.

{Jillian "hiding" in her swaddle sack this morning. Don't worry, she was smiling underneath :)} 

{We went to Barnes & Noble for the first time today and daddy got to come too! I didn't find exactly what I was looking for, but Jillian got some new books}

Jillian and I are pretty excited because we have a play date at the mall tomorrow! I know that'll be fun for sure. Plus, it's Jillian's first time at the mall. We've been to Target several times, the grocery store, and church, but the mall is a whole new ballgame. Put us in coach, we're ready to play!

Hope y'all are having a great day!

Catching Up

Happy Monday y'all!

Today was slightly busy, but that was mostly trying to catch up after our weekend. Our first trip to Tulsa went well! We discovered that Jillian must get lonely and that's why she fusses in her car seat. I sat in the back with her both ways and she slept almost the whole time. The few times she was awake? She was calm and smiled at me :) She met lots of people and got lots of love! I'm sad I didn't really take any pictures. Sometimes I beat myself up for it, but then again I'm thankful for living in the moment and soaking it in. Mental pictures are just as important right? Well, that's my excuse at least ;)

I'm almost done with our laundry and I went grocery shopping this evening. We have the money to shop for almost 2 weeks worth of food so that's what I did. Even if I know we have the money, it's always hard spending so much at once. Luckily I got some yummy stuff and I'm excited about some of the new recipes we'll be trying. I'll post them on here if they are successful! Also, I bough some Dannon Oikos yogurt so I could try it. It is a lot thicker than I'm used to, but it was pretty tasty! I tried the Honey flavor this time, but I also have Vanilla and Strawberry. Hopefully they're just as good.

I can't believe she's going to be 3 months in a week! Where is my newborn baby?! She's growing up, but luckily not too terribly fast.

{I tried introducing some of her toys to her, but Miss Jillian was much more interested in the wall HAHA} 

{Someone found their thumb today. And so it begins...}