{Weight Loss Weigh In: Week 9}

I can't believe it's been 9 weeks of trying to lose weight (I think it's closer to 10 but I am counting from the first FULL week I completed).

I have been eating alot of frozen blueberries, lovely orange like fruit and bananas. I have been working out on my yoga ball and making as many trips up and down the stairs as possible (I hate the stairs!).  I still have yet to get my big butt up and playing the wii but this week I hope to do it. I haven't done the wii fit in a long while and really should get back to it.

I have been really watching what goes into my mouth because tomorrow I am going to have a slice of yummy cake at William's birthday party, and I have been craving this type of cake since I had a slice at Sam's party. It's made at Albertson's and is chocolate with bavarian cream filling and a not so sweet whipped frosting. It really is a yummy treat!

I have realized that you can't deny yourself a little indulgence as long as you can control the portion you eat & be happy about your restraint. A slice of cake isn't going to make you gain weight but eating 3 or 4 will. If you deny yourself then when you "goof" you will have extreme pangs of guilt and that is not very helpful in your journey to losing weight.

Too much of anything isn't a good thing. Portion control and making sure you have a well balanced meals is the only way to go with exercise to help with your weight loss progress. At least that is what I have found works for me.

Current Weight: 294.5 pounds

Weight loss: -2 pounds

Total Weight loss: 10.5 pounds 

Weight still to lose: 60.5 pounds to go

As you can see I have lost 2 lbs this week. I think I am going to fluctuate throughout this pregnancy with my weight loss/gain. As long as I stay under what I started out at I will be extremely happy. I realize my goal has changed since getting pregnant but it had to because there is no way I will be able to lose the weight I want while growing a babe inside me but I can maintain and lose as much as I can before I start putting it all back on due to baby. I just don't wanna gain 30 (+) pounds this go around & I think I can do it.

{Park Fun}

A week or so ago, William & I took the kids to the park and I even remembered to grab my camera. It only had my 50 mm lens on it but I loved getting to know my 50 mm lens again. I missed it!

The kids had tons of fun and enjoyed the park. I just love seeing them have fun.










Don'tcha just love her staticky hair?





Aaron just enjoyed spinning on this piece of equipment. It was awesome!





Ruth loved it too. She would put her head back and just let the wind fly thru her hair.



Peek-a-boo I see you!





"Hey, Get outta the way SAM!!"

Aaron would spin it and let his legs fly while Ruth tried to enjoy the wind.





Ruth was so glad when the baby finally got outta this chair so she could swing in it.







But soon she started having a melt down...it wasn't pretty.





Sam was having fun playing "cops & robbers" with some of the other kids.

Ruth's melt down didn't get any better even when William came to push her. So we went for a walk around the park to see if we could find some ducks.





I tried to get a nice group shot of them but they were just not havin' it.



We found some ducks & it was awesome. We even saw some ducklings hiding along the bank.













and still no smiles for me - well with the exception of Sam's cheesy grin ;o) I may get the one above printed to put on my wall though, because I love it!




all though this one is a good one too, I may get it done up too...It was a fun day and I am so glad that we went and glad that I remembered my camera.

{Weight Loss Weigh In: Week 8}

This week has gone by so fast. William's birthday was Wednesday and I made him a cake - I didn't have a piece of it (until the next day). I also went and had a bite to eat at DQ with a friend while she was passing thru town. I didn't do so well there eating wise, (I had a chocolate frosty & sprite).

I can't believe how fast this week has come and gone. I guess that's what happens when your days are full of fun & homeschool. This week has been fun but if you asked me where the time went I couldn't tell you right off the bat because it just went so fast, (how exactly does that happen & why?).

Anywho, my current weight and stats are below...I gained a pound and a half but I think it's due to baby growing, (I hope it is anyways).

Current Weight: 296.5 pounds

Weight loss: +1.5 pounds

Total Weight loss: 8.5 pounds 

Weight still to lose: 62.5 pounds to go

{Modern Magical Give-a-way}

Win a sweet fairy dress over at modern magical by @HeatherL from Paperie Boutique by @shutterblog – Put some magic back in your life!

{11 weeks}

text taken from i am pregnant:

"Your baby continues to grow and is now approximately the size of a large lime! The crown-to-rump length of your developing child is 1.75 to 2.4 inches. The weight of the fetus is approximately 8 grams at this point. The growth of your baby is phenomenal now and your baby's length will double in the next three weeks. The head is grossly out of proportion and is almost half of the baby's length.

You are almost at the end of your first trimester and while changes continue to occur quickly in your baby, they are happening at a slower rate in you. Your uterus has been growing with the fetus inside of it and is now almost big enough to fill your pelvis. Your uterus may be able to be felt in your lower abdomen, above the middle of your pubic bone. You are not able to feel the baby moving inside of you at this time. Some women think that they have felt their baby moving now, but it is either gas or a wrongly dated pregnancy. You might also be noticing changes in your hair, fingernails, or skin around this time. Some women notice an increase in hair growth and nail growth during pregnancy and others lose small amounts of hair. You are burning up calories at a faster rate than you did before you became pregnant! The amount of blood being pumped around your body will increase and you might feel warmer than usual.

This is the last week of the embryonic period. From now on, your baby will be called a fetus. Your baby's fingernails appear this week! External genitalia are beginning to show distinguishing features and the development of male or female will be complete in three weeks. The  placenta's blood vessels increase to provide your baby with the nutrients and oxygen he needs for continued growth. Your baby's ears are gradually moving from the neck towards the sides of his head. Inside of your baby's abdomen, the intestines are developing. Because the intestines are so large, some of them project into the umbilical cord and they will return to the abdomen within the next week or two. 

At the size of a plumb, your baby is now able to swallow. The urinary system functions. The baby swallows and urinates the amniotic fluid and the fluid is continually replaced. The baby is kicking but the mother cannot feel it yet. All vital organs are formed and, for the most part, function normally. From now on, they will grow in size and efficiency."

I have been able to feel my uterus - it's just below my belly button and makes it hard for me to wear any of my normal pants - between the bloating and such it's been a pain and I did pick up one pair of maternity jeans a few weeks back (for when I go out grocery shopping) but mostly I just wear my sweat pants, (well anything with an elastic waste band).

I have been having horrible reactions to certain types of images, gagging uncontrollably, which sometimes leads to paying homage to the porcelain throne. It's a really weird twist on nausea - I mean I still get nauseated from smells and such but if there is any bodily fluid that doesn't look like water anywhere (be it vomit from people or animals or other iciness) I can't clean it up because then I will add to it. 

If William is playing one of the video games with things popping out of the characters heads I have to leave the room or I will gag horribly, which results in vomiting. It's weird and I didn't have this happen with the other pregnancies, but like they say no pregnancy is the same and it's been so true this go around.

My cravings have been strange too - I have been craving frozen blueberries as well as citrus fruits and apples w/skippy peanutbutter (the only brand that doesn't make me gag) and I only want to drink milk. At least I am not craving sweet stuff anymore because those cravings were hard to resist at times. At least it's all healthy foods I am craving - which is great!

So far 11 weeks down and 29 more to go.  I see my doc in a little over a week and a half and hopefully things are still going smooth and they can hear the heartbeat & I may even get another ultrasound (fingers crossed). The first trimester is almost over!!!

{Starting a New}

We gave the kids a week long break before we officially started our homeschool fun today. It was a rocky start as the boys were annoyed that we wanted them to work first then they could play video games, (novel concept right?).

Sam was upset that not only did he not get to play the games but he had to do "baby" homework, whatever that means. It took a full hour to get him to even start his work and Aaron was trying to make excuses as to why he couldn't start writing his story on space, (my hand is sore, I can't lift my pencil because my arm got broken from sleeping on it...and so on). Was I really asking for too much from the kids - NO! but they sure thought so.

Finally they both got into it and I was thrilled! Aaron and Sam both did well and I even found some great stuff for Ruth to work on too. I even found some great websites that have free stuff that can be printed - which I love! I found some great stuff when it comes to sight words, math and such. Below are some of my favored links. I hope you find them as useful as I do!

Bear Mountain site word list - this is a great list of words to help your 1-2nd grader (they also have crossword puzzles too w/the answer sheet)

Anderson Elementary School - This has a list of kid friendly sites that can help your children learn new skills.

Homeschool Math - has lots of printables to help your child in grades 1-5.

Super Teacher Worksheets - has lots of printables for several different subjects that you may be teaching your 1st thru 5th graders. 

TLS Books - has lots of stuff to help teach your pre-k to 5th graders. They have both the worksheet & answer sheets as well. This one has pre-k which is a great starting point for Ruth!

Do you have any sites that you frequent? Right now our budget is tight with a new baby coming and paying off the last of our debt so I have been looking for good sites that are free and full of good information. Especially since we are only "winging" it thru the summer until their school packets come from the K12 program that we will be doing in the fall.

I am working on a new schedule so that we can have a bit more structure so that the kids know what is going on and what we will be working on thru out the day. Glad I have my time management sheet already to go - just need to rearrange stuff to make it work right for us now that we are homeschooling! If you would like to download my planners for the day & for meal planning just check out my post HERE.

(this is my daily schedule - which will need to be redone for homeschool!)

{Give-a-way}

Mama Thompson is hosting a give-a-way for a really cute "JoJo designs turquoise and chocolate bella tote".


Be sure to stop on by and enter to win. I hope I win it because it would make a very cute diaper bag when the little one arrives - don't you think?

(enter to win HERE)

{The Time Traveler's Wife}

I really enjoyed this movie. It will make you cry so make sure you have a box of tissue next to you. This movie is based on the book by Audrey Niffengger. I think I am going to add this book to my reading list for sure.

Back of Movie Summary:

When Henry DeTamble meets Clare Abshire in a Chicago library they both understand that he is a time traveller, but she she knows much more than this about him as he has not yet been to the times and places where they have met before. He falls in love with her, as she has already with him, but his continuing unavoidable absences time travelling - and then returning with increasing knowledge of their future - makes things ever more difficult for Clare.

{Raging Hormones - UGH!}

They are seriously raging...sometimes I just can't control this hormonal crazed lady that rears her ugly head. It's almost like an outta body experience and I am not liking this part of pregnancy at all!

(found on the internet doing a search for "emotions")

my emotions are go from happy to sad to insane to guilty to rage and so on. It's an insane time and I find it gets worse the less sleep I have gotten. Gee I wonder why that could be? (total sarcasm in my voice - I know why and I want it to stop!!)

(found on the internet while searching "screaming lady")

most of the time I just want to scream my head off and get away before I explode all over everyone, but I never seem to get a moments peace lately... I swear I am going totally insane!

(found on internet while searching "insane")

I realize raging hormones go with being pregnant but I don't remember it being so horrible uncontrollable at times. I am hoping that I can gain some sort of control and soon because I am not liking the rollercoaster of emotions that have been plaguing me lately. 

(found on the internet while searching "happy lady")

On a happy note, I did find a nice crib w/mattress on craigslist for $50!! I was so excited! I also found a cute black leather reclining chair (not one of those big puffy things from the 80's) but a nice sleek one for $25. I just love craigslist - well at least when I can find what I am looking for anyways!

I am hoping to find a nice pack 'n play & rocking chair next, something comfortable and not too pricey for when jellybean comes - I always had a rocker while there was a baby in the house and it's a must have for sure. The only "new" thing I plan on buying will be a stroller/carseat combo thing. I am sure I will find what I need soon enough - I have plenty of time to get everything done. (I hope!)