My life's biggest challenge

I gave birth to 3 kids, one of which was almost pain med free, and that was hard. Then I had to potty train my very stubborn 2-year old. And that was hard as well. I have had to pay bills with very little money coming in, which would at times seem next to impossible to achieve. But nothing has been as hard in life for me to accomplish as losing all this extra weight I have gained since I got married.

Here is a brief synopsis of my weight struggle:

I met Kevin back in 1998. At that time I weighed 115 lbs, soaking wet. When I got married, I weighed a nice 145 lbs. That is mostly due from a change in profession. I went from being a CNA to working behind a computer as a customer service representative (Don't you just love those desk jobs? lol) Less than a year later, I found myself pregnant with Reece. I gained up to 168 lbs with his pregnancy.

Fast forward 2 1/2 years and I am at 152 lbs and just find out I am going to be a mom again. I have Logan and think I am done with having children. 10 months after I have Logan, I am down to 162 after being 174 lbs at my highest during his pregnancy.

That is when we found out I was pregnant again...this time with Madelynn. I gained up to 183 at my highest with Madelynn's pregnancy..not too bad. I lost all my weight after I had her and went back down to 162 lbs. That is where all the trouble began. Somehow, I managed to go from 162 lbs all the way up to my highest weight ever. In September, I was tipping the scales at a whopping 189 lbs. I have no idea how I got there; all I knew is that I was miserable and something had to be done.

I lost a few pounds when I was working at the nursing home but not enough to notice. I finally got the motivation I needed to lose weight April 21, 2008. I went in to have all four of my wisdom teeth removed. Oral surgery is a GREAT way to lose weight...NOT!!! I went from 179 lbs to 171 lbs in 3 weeks, due to not being able to eat. That is when I decided it was time for me to take action.

On May 18th, I decided to try the methods used in weight watchers. Mom had started the program and gave me some of her books that had all the information I needed to get started. Since then, I have slowly watched the number on my scale decrease. I am not losing weight very quickly, but I AM losing it! I started out at 171 lbs when I began weight watchers. Now, 5 weeks later I am down to 164! Seven pounds in 5 weeks! That isn't too bad! All I have to do is keep an eye on how much junk I am eating, drink plenty of water, eat my fruits and veggies, and make sure I watch my portion size. It can be hard because I am allowed 23 points per day and a 6 oz. T-bone steak is 10.5 points. So I eat salads and fruit, drink water or diet drinks (and V-8 Fusion which is 1 point per 8 oz glass AND has a serving of both fruits and veggies in each 8 oz!!), and try to avoid eating junk food so much. It has been a struggle, but I am finally making some progress!!!

Teeball is over

Reece just finished his 2nd year of teeball this week. And he loved it, as usual. I am going to miss the games, but he will be starting FOOTBALL in August! Oh my, what was I thinking signing him up? I guess I will have to get out of protective mom mode and let him enjoy being little. So, here are some pics from this past season of teeball.

Fishing with the Boys

The other weekend, we decided to take the boys to the boat landing for a small fishing trip. They had a blast!! Reece will say he caught the biggest fish, but LOGAN was the one having all the fun. Not only did he get to throw them all back, but he also decided that the water looked perfect for swimming! Here are some pics from our trip...

My baby girl

got her first major haircut last week. She had a "rat tail" that wouldn't curl like the rest of her hair did so I went to cut it off (I did this several months back with no problems so I decided I could handle it again). Well, it didn't go as planned. Just as I went to cut the strand of hair, she jerked her head. So I had no choice but to give her a major makeover. Here is the before photos of her hair (a couple of months old cause all her recent photos have her hair pulled up to keep it out of her eyes.)

And here are the after photos. I cried like a baby when I had to cut it so short!!! I just pray that it grows back rather quickly cause I don't like it short. I can't get it out of her eyes by pulling it up like before. Time for some new clippies. =)

Let's give it a try...

Since the "blog" seems to be the latest way to keep everyone updated on life, I figured I should give it a try. Forgive me if it isn't the greatest start but hey, you gotta start somewhere right? I am going to try to keep this updated. If I fall behind.... forgive me! lol Hopefully I can figure this out pretty quick and have pictures and updates at least a couple of times a week. I appreciate your comments and look forward to your feedback.