running again

As we all know, having a baby changes everything. Our daily lives have completely changed because of this precious cuddle bug that is sleeping on my lap right now! Not only have the happenings of our day changed... but that whole pregnancy definitely does a number on your {my} body. Now, if you are a good pregnant girl and gain the recommended 25-30 lbs things may not take too long to go back to normal. But, if you are like me and gain 45 lbs- this is not so much the case.

Thanksgiving: 38 weeks +45 lbs. but Elizabeth looks great!

While I am not super excited about that number, I can't say I did too much to stop it from getting this high. Yes, I walked and ran into my 32nd week of pregnancy and did zumba for a month after that... but I also ate mostly whatever I wanted {meaning ice cream about once a day!} While I didn't drink pop or really eat horrible foods, I still ate. The nice thing is that in the first two weeks postpartum you lose about 20-25 lbs, which is great. This still leaves a lingering 20 lbs.

So six and a half weeks after gaining a daughter I am running/zumba{ing} again. Let's just say it was ROUGH! Who knew that even after doing it for so long during pregnancy... the first time I ran I literally wanted to die. And let me add- running with a stroller is hard work! Even when you have this beauty to run with...

we had to test it out somehow!!

It is a super easy thing to push {with one hand}... but it def. adds more work!

I guess the main point to this post is that I need to put my goals out there into bloggy world... {hopefully helping me to stay motivated... since other people know what I am working towards!} So without further adu:

Health Goals for 2011
1. Run a 5k {in March}, 10k {in October}, & possibly a half marathon

Elizabeth and myself after running the Tulsa Run {10k} October 2009

2. Eat better {absolutely NO pop, more veggies, less sugar}
3. Zumba without dying {complete a zumbathon}
4. Reach goal weight of 150
         { I know what you are thinking... that it's not healthy to lose weight while breastfeeding. But I        did discuss this with my doctor and as long as I don't lose more than 8 lbs a month this is fine, which gives me anywhere from 5-8 months to reach this goal}

last time I weighed 150 lbs- honeymoon

5. Drink as much water as I did throughout pregnancy {that's 150 ounces a day}

So there it is. It is officially out there.

Hopefully our winter weather won't stay long so I can get back to actually running outside! {We are expecting 10-12 inches of snow tomorrow... so running outside won't be happening! I guess lifting weights and doing indoor exercises will have to do!}

oh how she loves her swing!

Because what post would be complete without a picture of Brynlee!!

Playdate

taken while watching Miss America

Let me start off by saying last night a miracle occurred in our house...

Last night we spent many hours of trying to get Brynlee to sleep {she kept acting tired but once we put her down she would scream}. Each time we went to put her back down we would try something different. One time she was swaddled in her blanket like normal. Next, we tried not swaddling her at all. And the third time we decided to swaddle just her arms {using the Velcro part from a sleep sack, just without the sack}. The first two times she would not even stay down for five seconds. However, the third time, James went in and swaddled her and immediately she closed her eyes. So he put her down on her stomach and she was out! {this was at 12:30} I of course was hoping for three hours of sleep but when I woke up it was 5:00! Now before this she had NEVER slept longer than 4 hours and that has only happened one time! SO naturally I was nervous and went into her room to check on her. There she was asleep in exactly the same spot that we put her down! So I cautiously went back to bed just sure that she would be up any minute... not so. She ended up sleeping until 7:30. It was amazing! Now she didn't sleep the night before or that day, so it's possible she was just super tired... but I am hoping that maybe we have figured something out- at least for now! Crazy how quickly things change with a 7 week old baby.

love when she smiles in her sleep

Now, we all know it is pretty hard to have a playdate when you are 7 weeks old, but that's what we are calling it! Today I met with a good friend of mine and her two boys at McDonald's for lunch.  The boys played, we chatted and Brynlee slept in her car seat the entire time! It was so nice though! Being home is really nice but can be kind of lonely when everyone else is off at work and school. So I am hoping that we can make this a weekly occurrence- especially if Brynlee decides to keep sleeping. Then I will def. feel like getting out more! I meant to take a picture but forgot. So a few pics of Brynlee will have to suffice!

and even better when we can get her to smile!

mini family reunion {almost}

Brynlee's first snow {kind of... really it snowed a little like a week ago, but we didn't get out!}

This weekend held a few firsts for us. James went out of town for a high school church event so me and Brynlee would be on our own from Friday-Sunday. Now since my parents live a little over a mile from our house, this really isn't that big of a deal. That was until they decided to go to Fayetteville for my brother-in-laws basketball games {he coaches high school}. So I was nervous about staying here alone for the weekend- especially since Brynlee still really wasn't sleeping at night. We got about 3-4 inches of snow Thursday so they ended up canceling the basketball games. My parents decided it would be fun to go anyway and hang with my sister and her family. So my other sister and her husband decided they would come down from Joplin for the night to hang as well. Since everyone else was going- I was pretty sure there was no way I was staying in Owasso alone! So we loaded up with my parents and went to Fayetteville for the night!

Grace loved putting her "jerry" in the bouncy seat and swing {she will be so much help when her baby brother arrives!}

We got there just before dinner Friday night. As is usual with our family, we didn't do a whole lot except sit around and talk. My dad always makes fun of us girls because no matter where we are, we always end up sitting on the floor in the kitchen talking, while the guys are in the living room talking {which this time included Brynlee laying on her blanket on the floor}. Sadly, Gracie had already gone to bed, so she missed this time! It would probably be boring for me to recount the whole night, but let's just say that my niece Grace is super entertaining {as I am sure most two year old are}!

playing basketball with her daddy- she is an expert in rebounding!

One of the best things to happen... Brynlee slept great! She woke up twice and went down without much work at all! This was wonderful. Not only did I get some sleep, but it made me feel much more confident about being alone last night {which she slept great again}. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I think we have a pattern!

Of course we missed James and look forward to him being home later today! Now, off to prepare for a baby shower for a good friend who is having her second little boy!

proud grandparents

Memory challenge

Beth Moore is doing a challenge for memorizing scripture. The challenge is to memorize two scriptures a month- a very doable goal! Myself, my mom, two sisters and grandma are all participating and doing the same scriptures. We take turns choosing the scripture. So twice a month I will post the verse on here as another form of accountability!

Verse #1: Deut. 1:31
“…the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”

Verse #2: James 1:2-4
"Consider it pure joy my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds because you know that trials produces perserverance. Perserverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything."

I chose the verses from James... my dad started a series at church this week called Faith Works- a study through the book of James. So it seemed like an appropriate way to get started.

Sleepless in Owass0 {just had to do it...}

When we had Brynlee {and the weeks leading up to her birth} everyone kept saying, "the first two weeks are the harderst, "just get through the first two weeks and you will be fine." Maybe for most people this is the case- but not so for us! Of course the first two weeks weren't easy, but compared to the last three, it was a breeze.

The first two weeks Brynlee slept great {in my opinion}. It may have only been two hours at a time, but it was 20 hours of the day. Through the night she would sleep, wake up to nurse and go immediately back to sleep. Now, it was hard getting up all the time {and we stayed up later so that we didn't get up as much "through the night"} but we were still able to sleep through the night. She also ate great {which is still the case}. Luckily we really didn't have too many issues with breast feeding.

Once we hit the three week mark- things changed dramatically. First off, Brynlee was having a growth spurt. This meant she wanted to eat every hour or hour and a half- if we were lucky. Imagine you are eating each hour and it takes you at least 30 minutes to eat. By the time she was done and would fall asleep- it was time to eat again. So for a solid four days this was our life. I basically did not get up off the couch!

I don't know if it's because she wasn't sleeping because she was always eating, or something else, but when this was over Brynlee was no longer sleeping. She would nurse, fall asleep and twenty minutes after we put her down she would be wide awake again. We would get her back asleep and twenty minutes later- awake. Super frustrating. That lasted about a week. Then this glorious week she just decided to not sleep at all. I could get her to sleep maybe 3-4 hours throughout the day {only in my arms} but that was it. She wasn't going to bed until 4-6 A.M. 

All week we tried different things
- sleeping on her back, side and stomach
- swaddling her in blankets, swaddlers, putting a blanket over her or leaving her without anything
- we moved her into her crib, used the swing, car seat, driving in the car and  the bassinet
- we tried music, static noise, a noise maker and ocean waves
- we tried rocking her, walking around, standing next to running water, laying on the couch with her
- we tried letting her sleep all day whenever she wanted and keeping her awake as much as possible 

I am pretty sure there were other things that I can't even remember.

All this to say: last night for the first time in three weeks... she slept!! She was asleep from 10:30-2:30 and 3:15-7:45. Let's just say it was AMAZING. Now we didn't sleep all that great {keep thinking she was going to wake up- couldn't relax}. 

Grace loves baby cousin Brynlee!

maybe a little jealous about mommy holding the baby!

BUT here is the problem. Now we need to recreate whatever we did last night so that she will sleep again! Not really even sure about what we did differently {if there was anything}. Or maybe she just decided it was time. Either way we are just praying she will sleep again tonight {not a good track record for Saturday nights}.

Most of the pictures are from Christmas... but since I didn't get around to post about it- here they are!

1 month

Brynlee- today you are one month old!

I am not sure about your weight or height {based on the clothes you are outgrowing... you are def. growing!} We will get the official stats in our next appointment in a month.

You wear mostly newborn clothes {much to my surprise with how big you were} ... a few 0-3 months, and are about to move up to a size 1 diaper {once this box of newborn is gone}. We still don't really have a schedule. We were starting to get there but then you hit a growth spurt... and for the last three days you have been eating every 1-1 1/2 hours. But I think it may be over now seeing as how you have been asleep for two hours already! At night you mostly sleep for 3 hours at a time. A couple of times you have stretched to 4 hours- and it was amazing! You are very alert and great at holding your head up. When laying on our chest you like to push up with your forearms to look around. You still love to be swaddled or wrapped in a blanket at almost all times! You don't exactly love the car seat- and you definitely DO NOT love the sling. We will be revisiting the sling issue in the near future because I could really use the extra hands! At night you sleep in our room in the bassinet. When you wake up we change your diaper, swaddle you, nurse, burp and go back to sleep.

Your first month of life has been very busy. You went to Christmas Eve services at church. Christmas day was spent at Grandma and Grandpa Curran's, Aunt Linda and Uncle Duane's for lunch and back home for dinner with the rest of the family. You have been out to Target shopping with the girls {grandma and aunt Elizabeth}, one trip to Sam's and even made your first appearance at Bueno for lunch. New Year's Eve was spent at the Aberle's. This week will be your first Sunday at church... and we are ready to be back in church after a month away! You even had newborn pictures taken!

We are so excited to have you here with us! We pray for you daily that you would grow up to love God and love people! You are precious baby girl and a joy to our lives!

To say the last month has been a bit crazy would be an understatement.

Here are some of the pictures we had taken by a wonderful photographer! She's pretty cute!