@ 4 months

1462

1462. That is my calorie intake number. I went to The Daily Plate website to figure it out. It is a really great site with lots of tools to help keep your body weight in check. Now I just have to try to stick to it! This is the FIRST time in my life where I have had to really think about calories and exercise etc. Whoever said breastfeeding helps you lose weight was lying! At least for me it has been the opposite! But, now that Brayden is finally four months old, I can start exercising and hopefully get back into my jeans. It has been a long road getting my milk supply built and I basically had to forfeit exercise (which I don't care for anyway) and up my calorie intake. It paid off for little Brayden (who is not so little) but I hate the way I look with all these extra pounds and I really have NOTHING to wear. I feel like Renee Zelwegger who has been gaining weight for a movie and now the filming has stopped and I have to get disciplined. During the summer, I was fine with the extra weight. It really wasn't a huge difference from being hugely pregnant. But now, now I have preschool, Young Women's (yep, I am in Y.W. again- I'll have to do a post) and Lewis and Conner's busy schedule to keep up with. So, 1462! I'm crossing my fingers! This is the number I have to stick to if I want to lose 1.5 pounds per week without really adding TOO much to my exercise plate. I really have no idea what my calorie intake has been thus far? I just know I have been eating CONSTANTLY all summer & not burning off anything I have eaten. Maybe it won't be that hard? I'll keep ya posted! Oh, and feel free to go on over to the site and get your number! Maybe you could join me on this journey to a slimmer waist line! Misery loves company!


http://www.thedailyplate.com/

This picture will be my motivation. Notice how small Conner is. And, those are clothes I was able to wear BEFORE I had him. If I can do it then. I can do it now. Plus, the other motivator for me is how I feel. I feel like such a slug right now. I was playing Freeze Tag with the preschool kids for all of about three minutes the other day and I was SORE all over the next day! SO pathetic! Here's to exercising and eating less! Wish me luck!

i hate technology

Okay. So I did something dumb, pushed some wrong button, made a mess of something on this blog?!? And, as a result, some of my pictures aren't showing up. So annoying. On the flip side, I was totally being lazy about updating my blog anyway, so maybe this is a blessing in disguise? I absolutely needed a reason to get going on the re-vamp of my blog. I have been planning to do something for almost a year now! I am so lame. Oh, and I HATE technology. It is so fickle.

Missing Beaver Dam

So we have been back into school now for a few weeks. The boys are no longer attending Steve's school, Beaver Dam, and I am no longer teaching there. Steve, however; is still on principal duty and carrying on with business as usual. I find myself a little sad to not be a part of it all this year. We had SUCH a great two years there. It is not that I am sad about how things are going with the boys in school here (there are some perks to attending school that is just up the street from your house as opposed to thirty minutes away) but there were so many things to enjoy about Beaver Dam. It is such an INTERESTING place and I learned so much from our experience there. Here are just a few reasons why I am missing this school:

Reason #1- My colleagues! I enjoyed getting to know these amazing ladies so much. One of my favorite things about teaching full time again was being surrounded by such fun people every day. Bouncing teaching ideas off of them, complaining about endless to do lists and all that was on our plates, wishing each other "happy birthdays" and "congratulations" when different milestones came up. Such GOOD times! This picture is of MOST of the teachers at B.D.E.S. at my baby shower (held back in May). Mrs. Reyes (Conner's teacher who is not pictured but I will point her out in an up an coming photo) opened up her home for the event and it was so wonderful. A great way to commemorate the blessed event of Baby Brayden, but also to say goodbye to all these great ladies.

These were my right hand ladies, my aides. We had such fun working with those kids. Fawn, Maria and Laura threw a surprise baby shower for me with my students! Somehow, they were able to keep it a pretty good secret! They are some of the most giving and hard working women I know. Love them!

Reason #2- The kids! The kids at Beaver Dam are THE BEST!!!! I have not seen such appreciative, excited and humble kids as these! Most of the kids attending the school are from low income homes. Some of them barely have a roof over their heads and struggle to have enough food to eat and clothes to wear. School was their sanctuary and they did not take it for granted! I have never enjoyed teaching as much as I did this past year with the SEI (Stuctured English Immersion) class. They all came from homes where Spanish was the primary language. Many of them did not speak a LICK of English at the beginning of the year. Learning English and learning to read was not taken lightly with them. They are TRUE lovers of learning and it was excititng to be a part of that!

Also, my boys were able to make such AWESOME little friends at Beaver Dam. The diversity of this school was refreshing and so good for Lewis and Conner. They learned so much about the hispanic culture and gained a great appreciation for differences in others. It was so good for my boys to see how fortunate they truly are and I was happy to see them eager to share their light and goodness and wealth with some of their friends who did not have much.

I DIED when I saw this adorable picture of Conner and some of his best buds! This is on the last day of school back in May.

And how cute is Lewis there surrounded by his classmates?! He is such a likeable guy and had many, many friends at Beaver Dam. So cute!

Reason #3- The commute. Some would say that having to commute thirty minutes to work everyday is down right annoying. I did not see it this way. It actually turned out to be one of the perks to attending Beaver Dam as a family. Not only was the scenery in the gorge BREATHTAKING on those early mornings and late afternoon rides, but it was also a GREAT time for the boys to get their homework and reading done. I especially loved that our HIGH ENERGY Conner was able to catch a few zzzzz's as we traveled. He took a nap on the way home MOST days. I also enjoyed that Steve and I had time to wind down after our crazy/busy days because of the drive. I absolutely LOVED that by the time we got home, all homework and reading was DONE and all we had to focus on was sports, piano and family time. It has been tricky in these past few weeks to get used to having to fit homework into our "home" life. For this, and all other reasons above, I miss our daily commutes.

Reason #4- The Lunch Lady! Mrs. Burch is amazing. First of all, what lunch lady do YOU know that would BEG to come visit you and take your kids to lunch and a movie? She is great! She knows ALL the students names (not only the elementary kids but the middle school as well) and chats with them as they go through the lines each day. She personally sings HAPPY BIRTHDAY to EVERY person (including me when it was mine) in her lunch room AND she makes a really great lunch to boot! I actually looked forward to eating school lunch this past couple of years because the food wasn't half bad and Mrs. Burch's company was enjoyable. What a GREAT lady. I haven't even scratched the surface of all the great things she did for the school and our family. Another one of those selfless, hard working people that seemed to be the common thread of Beaver Dam. Totally miss her!

Reason #5- Working with my husband. I MISS it! I loved being just down the hall from him every day and I loved that we had that commonality in our relationship. We were able to collaborate together, swing by each others' rooms on our breaks and just BE together. It became so second nature, I actually think I took it for granted. I am missing it now.

Of course, I am sooooo appreciative of this new chapter of our lives, the one with sweet baby Brayden in it. I could never imagine teaching full time at Beaver Dam and leaving him at a sitter's house to do it, but I will always have a place in my heart for our time at B.D. It was such a growing place for our family. Here's to Beaver Dam! Thanks for the memories!

Let the Good Times Roll!

So, we've made it to the 4 month mark!!! This is officially my favorite BABY stage! I feel like it is time to just relax and enjoy this baby! This is definitely the turning point for me. Brayden is strong enough to hold up his head and basically sit propped up YET he is not able to move a whole lot which makes life pretty much perfect! He is enjoying tummy time a little better and can handle some time to himself a little every day. He is ALL smiles most of the time and is having longer stretches between meals. He is even napping a bit more consistently. And this is all happening within the last two weeks. He is just getting bigger and more comfortable with life. He IS teething however. Kind of the only down side to his days lately. Hopefully those teeth will pop up soon so he can quit trying to digest his entire fist!

We started solid food, even though doctors suggest 6 months nowadays to do this. Since my child is on the upper side of the percentile scale, he is okay to have a few calories from rice cereal and applesauce here and there.

At 3 months old, we took Brayden in to see the doc and back then, he was 15 lbs 7 oz. Today, at his FOUR month appointment, he is a whopping. . .

16 pounds 6 ounces!!!

Some of our FAVORITE THINGS about our 4-month-old Brayden:

1. His giggliness (not sure if that's a word) but he IS a giggler!

2. His friendliness. He is still such a social bug. LOVES people and loves to be out and about!

3. His fat rolls. I am obsessed with his little chubby legs! I could squish them all day! I love his rolly-polly little body!

4. His eagerness to learn about life. This kid LOVES new adventures and places. He loves having conversations and makes the cutest little noises. He is happiest when he is experiencing something NEW! I wish I had his ZEST for life sometimes!

"To the whole world you might be just one person, but to one person you might just be the whole world."

It is so amazing to be at this point right now. I had forgotten what it was like to be someones 'whole world' until this little guy came along. It makes me feel soooooo good inside to know that I am giving him everything he needs to be healthy and happy. While at times being the center of his universe is down right exhausting, I am cherishing every moment we have together. I know, all too well, that before long, he will find other things in the universe to cling to. Right now, I love being the one who knows how to get him to giggle (even when he is in mid-scream). I love squeezing and smooching all those chunky baby parts and knowing that I created them! I love it when he turns his head toward me at the sound of my voice and copies the noises I make when we have a "conversation" together. Ohhh. There is just so much to love about spending most of my moments of the day with this guy! Yep, I am pretty happy to have him cling to me for as long as possible. Love him so much!