Bath Time

Jeremiah loves bath time, but lately it has been a challenge.  He tries to sit up instead of laying on his little incline thingy.  I got the idea from my friend, Melodie, to put him in a laundry basket in the bath tub. This way he has limited space, so I'm not worried about him falling over, and he gets to sit up and play . . . I'd say I had one happy boy! :)

1/25 Weigh In

Well I managed to lose another 3 pounds this week!  I have lost 26 pounds so far in about 7 weeks!  Ben and I have been doing really well!  The most exciting part of my loss today was my reward - my mom got me a sweatshirt that is a size smaller than I used to wear.  I didn't figure that it would fit, but I decided to put it on just to see how much farther I had to go before it fit.  I can't tell you how excited I was when it fit!  I had lost enough that I needed smaller jeans a few weeks ago, but the top half of me wasn't shrinking very fast!  I have been "working out" using the babies as weights . . . I was lowering Jeremiah behind my head and then pulling him back up (one of his favorite games!!), and I told Candace Bauer that when my Weight Watchers app asks if I have worked out I say yes!  Another "game" Jeremiah, Callie, and Lexiann like is when I do bicep curls with them!  Working out as a mom/aunt is way more entertaining than thinking "great . . . I 'get ' to go work out . . . "  I never would have thought that being a mom would actually help me get healthy! :)

Not a very good picture, but this is my size smaller sweatshirt! :)

6 months ago

Wow I can't believe how the last 6 months have flown by!  My little boy will officially be 6 months old at 2:06 in the morning!  As I was rocking Jeremiah to sleep the Casting Crowns song "Jesus, Friend of Sinners" came on and instantly took me back to being in the hospital with my newborn.  When he would wake up in the middle of the night, I 'd rock him to sleep singing this song to him.  I wanted to sing a SLOW faith based song to him, but this is the only one I could think of that wasn't sad.  I'm thankful that I still get the blessing of rocking my "big-little" boy to sleep every night.  It doesn't matter how big he gets, he'll always be that innocent little baby I sang "Jesus, Friend of Sinners" to at Wesley Hospital in room 530! :)

God will make a way

We grew up with my Grandma & Grandpa Peeka listening to the Gaither Band.  One of my favorite songs from the Gaither Homecoming Band is called God Will Make a Way.  We a sat down to do our budget a couple of days ago, and as usual, we were left scrimping to cover everything for the next two weeks.  So, needless to say, I was literally sick at my stomach when I found out that Ben got a $155 speeding ticket (he was running late to work).  After crying, panicking, and talking to my best friend, I started cleaning to burn off some steam.  I was washing Ben's work clothes and it finally dawned on me to start praying about it.  I asked God to help me out.  I had no idea where the money was going to come from, but it had to be paid.  As often happens after pleading with my father, I got a sense of calm - just like he was telling me everything was going to be okay.  I sat down to pay the bills last night, and that's when I found an extra $100 in our checking account!  Last month I had to borrow $100 from very small savings account to get a new battery for my car, so I had counted it out as though it had already been spent out of Ben's pay check instead.  (Obviously, I was very tired the night I worked out the budget!)  It was just like God was saying "See, I already knew what was going to happen . . . just trust me!"  I just can't explain how I feel after receiving God's latest blessing!

Playing Catch Up

Wow has it been a crazy couple of weeks!  On Thursday, January 3rd at 9:45 pm, my sweet little grandma went home to Christ and my grandpa.  I had the privilege of going up to see her one last time before she left us.  She looked so fail and tired.  Normally, you could watch the artery in her left arm pulsing (there was nothing to her), but that night nothing was to be seen.  Uncle Johnny couldn't find an Oxygen Saturation level, or a pulse by feeling.  The Hospice nurse came out and checked her out.  He said that since he had seen her on Saturday, she had really deteriorated quickly.  I know that she couldn't physically respond to us, but I do think that she could hear us talking to her.  I couldn't bring myself to tell her that it was okay to go . . . I felt like if I did and she died it would be my fault . . . I always told her that I'd see her tomorrow, but this time I said that I'd see her later and that I loved her.  Mom told her that she'd be back tomorrow, but that if Jesus took her home before she got back up to see her to give "Daddy" a hug for her . . . my grandma nodded her head!  That was the only movement she showed that night that I'm aware of.  I can't explain how much I miss her!!  I'd call and/or text her every day to check on her, so it has been really hard not to.  Wednesday I put Jeremiah to sleep, then picked up my phone to call her . . . I'm so thankful that she no longer in pain and back with my grandpa, but I sure do miss her!  I can only imagine what she's seeing now!

Jeremiah and I have been going down to Mom's to help her with Levi, Cadie, Lexiann, and Callie.  Jeremiah is finally adjusting, we started going down (coincidentally) the same day that my grandma died.  It's good for Jeremiah to spend more time with his cousins and get out of the only-child rut.  He loves seeing all of the other kids and his Grandma Carol!  He and Callie especially love each other!

As far as my Weight Watchers goes . . . last week caught up with my and I didn't lose any, but on the plus side, I didn't gain any either!  So far I have lost 23 pounds and a couple of dress sizes!

That's pretty much our last couple of weeks in a nut shell! :)

Christmas 2012

We had a very full 3 days of celebrating Christ's birth with family!  Jeremiah loved pulling the wrapping paper off of the gifts!  Naturally, he didn't care too much about the gifts themselves, but now that the paper is gone they are more entertaining :)  

Helping Daddy hang an ornament on the tree :)

His first "big kid" dinnerware set from Grandma Becky and Grandpa Doug.  He was loving chewing on the bowl!

Jeremiah loved playing in the wrapping paper! :)

Helping Uncle Brett open his Christmas gifts . . . he sure does love spending time with his uncles! :)

Christmas morning with Daddy is the best! :)

Jeremiah loves his new "Monday the Bullfrog" book! :)

Jeremiah and Baby Kyla . . . he's 3 months older than her, but twice her size! :)  They had on matching onsies so we had to get the photo op! :)

Jeremiah LOVES Grandma Peeka!!  Every time we go visit her, he tries to get to her and smiles non stop at her!  It's no wonder, she's easy to love! :)

He sure loves his great Grandma Winsor, too!

Now it's boy time . . . hanging out with great Papa Winsor . . .

And great Papa Virgil!  All in all a great first Christmas . . . I just wish we had got our picture taken with Grandma Carol & Papa Hank! :)

Weigh in Weeks 3 & 4

This has been a crazy last two weeks!   Last week I was down three pounds and was really excited about it.  This week I was hoping at best to maintain, since we celebrated Christmas this week.  I pretty much ate whatever I wanted for three days, so I really expected to gain this week.  You can imagine how elated I was this morning to step on the scale and see that not only did I not gain or maintain, but I lost another three pounds!!!!  I am officially down 20 pounds!!  This is really exciting to me!  I knew when I started Weight Watchers that I would have Christmas coming up, I just hadn't planned on all of the candy/cookies in my house!  I am still thanking God for giving me the strength and endurance to get myself into shape!  I grew up over eating . . . I remember being 12ish and eating a Big Mac and large French Fries in under 10 minutes and telling my mom that I was still hungry.  Over eating is not a new thing in my life.  After 26 years of over eating it is only by God's strength that I am doing as well as I am!  We got gift certificates to Red Lobster & the Warren for Christmas, so I'll plan accordingly for those places.  My favorite meal that I get every time at Red Lobster is probably close to 20 million points, but I'm looking at it like I did Christmas - I know it's something I'm going to eat, so I have to behave myself the rest of the week!

Jeremiah has recently started going to sleep on my shoulder.  He never used to do that!  I have noticed that with losing the 20 pounds, my back doesn't start hurting right away like it did when I'm standing trying to put him to sleep.  Jeremiah started this about three to four weeks ago, and I couldn't stand to put him to sleep . . . I'd have to give him to Ben, I just couldn't stand with him that long.  With my bulging discs it is hard for me to just stand for very long.  If I'm moving I'm ok, but just standing hurts.  I'm so excited that this is becoming less of a problem! :D