More Baby Pictures

We had our second doctor's appointment today. We were hoping to hear a heartbeat, since we hadn't been able to last time (4 weeks ago, at 9 weeks). The doctor tried for about five (long) minutes to find it with the dopler, but couldn't. Sensing we were discouraged, as was he, he sent us over to the ultrasound side of the clinic. We still weren't able to hear a heartbeat, because they don't recommend using an ultrasound to hear the heartbeat, but we got some new pictures, one of which shows off the cutest little face ever. It was a quick appointment after a long wait in the lobby- we found out later that he was late because he was delivering a baby on the other side of the hospital (good enough excuse for me). We have our next appointment on September 24th and hopefully will be able to tell the gender at our October appointment- and yes, we WILL find out!!!

The Adventures Begin!!!

So if you couldn't tell by the above picture, we're PREGNANT, and I've been getting grief from some folks out there for not posting anything about it on my blog. So here you go, here's a posting.

As of now, we are just under 13 weeks. We are due March 6th, 2011, but I'm hoping to pop perhaps in February. If we do deliver in March, I'm hoping for March 5th, my Grandma Rosie's birthday. We go tomorrow (Friday) for our second doctor's appointment and we're hoping to hear a heart beat- we saw it on the monitor at our first appointment, but we didn't get to hear it. Specifically, we're hoping for a heartbeat of less that 130- a possible factor for having a boy!! I've not experienced much morning sickness, a second characteristic of having a boy...so we'll see.

Mostly, everything is going really well, and I can't really think of anything I would change. I get tired a little earlier at night, and am eating my meals a little earlier, but other than that, I feel great.

Stay tuned for more updates!!!

Family Pics 2010

Even though Drew and I are just a small family of two, we enjoy pausing for a few minutes a few times a year to snap a few shots of where we've been and what we've been doing in our busy lives. Thanks to the photographic eye of a dear friend, we came away from this evening with some great keepers. Here are our favs!

I Finally Did It!!!!

Well, after much hard work and much fewer order of french fries, I met my Weight Watcher (WW) goal. It took me 355 days and in the end, I lost 40 pounds and dropped two pant sizes. While the numbers have increased and decreased, one thing that has remained constant is the pride I now have in myself. This truly was a whole-body make-over for me and I am very pleased with my results. Don't get me wrong, it was a tough road, and at times, I wasn't sure why I was following it. Those reasons are still becoming clear to me and I discover something new about my new self everyday.

I know I promised that when I reached my goal, I would share my numeric success, and I will stay true to that promise. When I started WW on July 3, 2009, I weighed in at 213.2 (3 pounds less than my highest measured weight). On June 24, 2010, I hit the scale at 172.6. Today, I remain between 172 and 175, as I am trying to figure out where I want to remain. The challenge, now, is truly proving that this IS a lifestyle change and NOT a diet. A diet you stop when you reach your goal and this is when most people put their weight back on. My goal is to not do that :) I have to find a way to now stay constant and secure with where I am... which is in a comfortable size 12!

During my process, I was very conscience about my appearance and rarely allowed time for the camera to capture what I was doing. So, when I reached my goal, I asked a girlfriend to snap a few pics of the "new and improved" me. Below are a few of my favs... Enjoy them, as I plan on enjoying their benefits for a long time to come!

My Weight Watchers Experience

So, this is my Weight Watchers (WW) keyring. I got its bits and pieces as I've completed my program over the past year. Each piece represents goals that I've met along the way, and I thought I would share a bit of it with you.

The brass colored key ring was my first little prize. If you look at it, it looks like the number 10. This represents the first goal I met, losing 10 percent of my starting weight, which was 21 pounds. Yes, that means, I weighed somewhere between 210 and 219 when I started, but I'm not getting anymore specific than that. I reached my 10% on November 7, so I'm at least down to 192.2.

The little gold hands I got on October 17 for completing 16 weeks in the program. For those of you who knew I did WW in high school, you might remember that I didn't complete 16 weeks hen. I was so embarassed to be participating in a weight loss program that I ended it as quickly as I could. Now, I'm very proud of all the time I've put into this adventure!

The steel looking circle has a "25" imprinted on. This represents the first 25 pounds I lost. I received this on December 19, so then I wasn down to 187.8.

The 5K is pretty self explanatory. I ran my first 5K on May 8th and got my 5K award that next week. It was MY FIRST RACE EVER and I ran it in 35:04, my best time ever. It was an awesome experience.

So, now you know a little more about me and my WW experience. I've thought about sharing this for awhile now, and realized I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of- that I have decided to change my life and sharing my experience is part of my journey. So thank you for allowing me a little personal space- I appreciate allyour support more than you know. I'll let you know when I reach my final goal, which is closer than I can even believe.

Drew's Dinner Masterpiece

So, tonight I got home from my run and found out the Drew was gonna make dinner for me. The menu? Spaghetti and toast. We've also started adding frozen veggies to the pot so that it all gets covered in sauce and scarffed up with enjoyment.

With that being said, I told Drew that if he added a cup (meaning ONE CUP) of peas, it would be enough for both of us. What Drew did, however, was a bit off-kilter. He added one cp of PASTA to the BAG OF FROZEN PEAS. And it wasn't just a regular bag of peas. It was a really big bag of organic peas from Costco. So it was massive AND expensive. If he had thrown in a regualr size bag of peas, it might have been different, but no, size matters tomy hubby.

I walked in and he had "the look" on his face. You know, the look that says, "I need to tell you what I did but I'm not quite sure how to tell you." So all he says is "I might have added a few too many peas." A FEW, Baby???

An hour after dinner, I'm still laughing about the whole affair and realize that I am laughing because my husband was WONDERFUL enough to make dinner for me. Thanks Baby for a great laugh and a great meal- they both meant a lot to me!!!!!

Wife Appreciation Day

Today was the first-monthly Wife Appreciation Day. Drew and I decided that this (along with Husband Appreciation Day) would become a regular occurance in our home. Drew had his Appreciation Day on Tuesday so I did all his chores, made sure he got to pick what I made for dinner, and was at his beck and call. So today was my turn.

I woke up to the smell of chocolate chip pancakes with my favorite sugar free syrup. He started my car before work and then invited me to join him for lunch. After lunch I ran an errand for work and got back in my car only to find out that it was COMPLETELY DEAD!!! So I called my sweet husband and he came to my rescue. After 30 minutes of trying to finagle our way around my engine, we left my car, he took me back to work, and he then returned to wait for the tow truck. He got it to the mechanic safely and came back at the end of the day to pick me up. As I approached the car, he got out with a big arrangement of pink roses and white daisies (pictured below) with a card that said "Happy Wife Appreciation Day." He told everyone at work about what he was doing, and all the women wanted him to call their husbands and share his strategies. It was awesome!!!

So, I think this will be a regular monthly holiday celebrated in our household. It's kinda fun to have a day that we make up as we go- it's more personal than Valentine's Day and carries less expectations than an anniversary. you should all try it sometime!!!!