Today, Paisley and Adelyn joined me at my school for a couple of hours, and Paisley SOAKED IT UP. She is so excited to start school (hopefully this fall) and I know she is more than ready. Once pottery trained, she will be good to go! Today she ate lunch with the kids, played outside, sat on the line and listened to a story, and did a few works! She was such a big girl and I was so that Mom snapping pictures with my phone! It was just so neat to see her doing these things I see other children do all the time. I was fasinated by my sweet baby, I mean BIG GIRL.
We had a great time at the Dragons game, again this year! Paisley LOVED it and has asked daily to go back to the baseball game to see the Dragons. With her sweet friends there, good food, and lots of entertainment, who can blame her!
...and until March of this year, I was surviving. With a 2 month old, a 2 year old, a husband who works (cough, cough) 80 hrs per week (I wish), I was happy to be surviving. Living wasn't even an option for me at that point. Family is 375 miles away, I might add. I was barely getting through the day and there were days I would cry, because I was so tired, so lonely, and bottom line feeling sorry for myself. Adeyln is a WONDERFUL blessing, and Paisley is our angel, but it was not my plan to have 2 babies in 2 years, and if you put the two of these little joys together, you have one exhausted Momma. I found myself going back to work at 8 weeks post-pardum (after a c-section) mostly so I could feel a bit normal again. It worked a little, but I still needed something. I felt terrible health wise, on top of being exhausted, and was still holding on to 20 lbs of baby weight, and wearing maternity pants. Yes, I said it. How embarrassing! One day I left work in tears because I knew what the afternoon held. An energetic 2 year old ready to go go go, and a 2 month old that needed me equally, and I felt like a terrible mother. I also felt like I *use to be* a great Mom, and now I was surviving. Just getting through the day. What a tragedy for my girls, and for me, really.
That's when I decided something had to be done. I had heard about a nutrition program that sounded pretty good, but I wasn't sure I was up for the challenge. Advocare's 24 day challenge that is. A time where you eat "clean" (no processed foods, sugary foods, white starches, etc) while eating lots of proteins, vegetables, nuts, fruits, taking vitamins, omega oils, probiotics, doing a gentle cleanse, and drinking a nutrient rich energy drink. I am a sugar a holic and I knew this would be sooo hard for me. However, I was unhappy with how things were going and needed a change. I ordered my 24 day challenge (for nursing Moms) that week, and started my challenge on Friday, March 1st.
That following Sunday night, after starting Advocare on Friday, I sat down on the couch after putting both girls to bed and said to Jason, "I think this is the first time I have sat down all weekend, just to relax." I had been sitting down every chance I got, and instead this weekend I had gotten so much accomplished around the house, played with the girls, been a decent wife to spend time with, (no moping around!) and for the first time in a while, I felt productive! That's when I realized that there is something to this Advocare stuff! During my 24 day challenge I lost 6 lbs, and lots of inches. I regret not measuring but I can say I was wearing maternity pants when I started, and by the end I was back in my regular clothes. I am now wearing ALL regular clothes and have packed up the maternity stuff, and am currently down 9 lbs. (in 6 weeks) I have more to lose, but now I have hope through Advocare for not only loosing the weight, but doing it the healthy way. My energy level has never been better. NEVER. I recently came home from work and cleaned windows. CLEANED MY WINDOWS! I didn't do that when I had no children, and was 5 years younger! The difference in the way I feel is truly indescribable. You have to feel it for yourself.
I love the products so much, that I started talking to Jason about selling Advocare before my challenge was even over. I did not have to say much at all before he agreed that it was a good idea. Jason did not need me to explain why I was interested in selling, he had seen the change in me in the few short weeks I had been on Advocare. During that time he himself had tried the energy drink (Spark) and even he loved it. He now prefers Spark over coffee, or any other energy drink (and trust me, he has tried them all!). He has looked at the ingredients in the Advocare products and he assures me that they are top notch. He is excited to be started on the products as well! He is not interested in the 24 Day Challenge, but he can greatly benefit from lots of their products as well, aside from the challenge.
My goal is to share what I have found with other people who could be feeling like I was 6 weeks ago, and let others benefit the way I have! Check out this video to see a few examples of before and after Advocare pictures. My own before and after pictures are coming soon!
I am looking for 6 couples, or 12 individuals to take on this 24 Day Challenge and jump start their health goals for the Summer. If you are interested in doing this, let me know! I would LOVE to get you started!
Wow, me? Blogging? Needless to say, it has been a CRAZY past few months, and blogging has been the least of my concerns, however, life *seems* to be settling a bit and maybe, just maybe I could fit this in every now and then again. I love going back and reading things that we have done, updates, etc, so I really want to try to get back to it asap! (I type this as Adelyn is waking up from her nap...we'll see how this goes!)
Noticing that I haven't really posted since September, I almost wanted to do an overall update of our past 5 months, but who am I kidding, that would take forever and may never get done, so I am going to start fresh. Here are the most recent pictures of our sweet girls, and a few of Jason and I, too :)
Jason and I have been super busy with him working sooooo much, and me taking care of 2 kiddos. Thankfully, this *should* be the last stretch of long exhausting hours for Jason, although he will always work lots of hours, this point is residency is supposedly the final bump before things slow down a little. In July he will be a 4th year resident, in a 5 year program, so we are working our way up! Counting down to being back home with our family and friends. Oh, the day we move home will be the best day in my life, aside from having my girls and our wedding day!
I went back to work in February, when Adelyn was 8 weeks old. I am really enjoying it actually. It is only 9-1, M,T,W, so it's a nice change of scenery for me and the girls. We have the most wonderful sitter in the world so I have no worries about them when they are there. That is the reason is was really not a hard adjustment for me to go back. I love it! I often have more energy after working that morning than I do the days I am home with the girls all day. :) Being a full-time stay at home Mom is the hardest job, I honestly couldn't do it. THAT is why I work :)
I am hoping to do better about keeping everyone up to date, and creating a spot where I can post pictures/stories, etc from this time in our lives so that one day I can come back and reminisce. A virtual baby book, if you will, but also a memory book of our time in residency. We have a photo album of our time in Medical School, and I LOVE to go back and see those pictures, so hoping this could turn out in a similar way. We'll see if I can keep it up!
After dinner on Sunday night, Paisley and Kaitlyn heard some loud music (Teenage Dream, to be exact) and decided to bust out in a full blown dance party! This was only a small snip-it of what Lacey, Ben, Jason, and I had for entertainment! They were sooo cute and funny!
Maybe I should say "trim" :) it was barely that! She did an amazing job sitting still, and Michon did an amazing job cutting it! I had a sucker all ready to pull out, but we didn't even have to resort to that. She was a little wiggly, but nothing like I thought she would be. I sorta hated to get her hair trimmed, but it was looking kind of bad at the ends, and was starting to look pretty stringy. This little trim helped a ton with both issues. Here are some pictures from the big event! :)
We are a happy couple that has been married for over 5 years, and together for 12 years! We recently move from Virginia where Jason completed Medical School, to Ohio, where we will be spending 5 years for Jason to complete residency in Orthopedics. We bought our first home, and I am teaching part-time at a Montessori School. On top of that, we had our first child late December 2009. What better way to keep our friends and family posted than a blog!
