Belated Anniversary

On October 16 my hubby and I celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has already been 9 years. I feel like we were just married. We have had a great 9 years together. We have been by each others sides through all of our ups and downs. Life is great when your best friend is walking beside you through everything. We went out to dinner that night just the two of us, which if you know us is huge. We hardly ever get to go out just us. We also went to a friends wedding on Saturday afternoon without the kiddies. So after the wedding we went and grabbed a quick dinner together and did some window shopping. This past weekend was also his first days off in 34 days so we all thoroughly enjoyed having Daddy home. I love my sweet, caring, loving, hard working man. Here are a few photos from our wedding and also from when we went to the wedding this past weekend.

This picture is probably about 12 years old. Oh we were so young :)

Happy Birthday!!

I just wanted to wish my beautiful daughter a happy second birthday! We had a fabulous Mary Poppins birthday party for her over the weekend. A great time was had by all. I even ate a piece of birthday cake. It was delicious! I still managed to get into "onederland", 199, for the first time since almost 10 years ago. I have decided I will not weigh myself again until my birthday , September 29.

Anyway to the important stuff. She is the most amazing, sweet, kind, loving, playful and sassy little girl. She knows what she wants and will not let anyone tell her otherwise. She rules her Daddy and her two brothers. Whatever she says goes. She is 2 going on 15 for sure. She is such a little girly girl. She loves shoes, purses, dancing, singing, spinning dresses, dolls, and reading. She also loves to play with legos, cars, balls and playing in the dirt. I cannot wait to see what an amazing little woman she turns into, but for now I would like time to slow down. I cannot believe she is already 2. Happy Birthday little lady Mommy loves you!

Another Shout out!!

This shout out is to my favorite person in the whole world, other than my babies of course :) He is the most amazing person I have ever met. He is my biggest supporter and inspiration. He works very, very hard for our family. He has stood by my side through everything. He is the love of my life and my soulmate. Obviously I am talking about my husband. After we got married we "enjoyed" married life a little too much, and we had both become very unhealthy. He is probably the pickiest person on the face of the planet. His mother told me good luck because he won't eat anything. He is a southern boy. Which means sweet tea and fried foods. I am so proud of him. With all the changes I have made he has never complained once. He is willing to try so many new things. I actually made him a salad last week with spinach and kale, and he ate it all. I could not believe it. He is my partner in training. I am so proud of everything he has done. He is the most fantastic person on the planet.

My journey so far....

I was a relatively healthy child and teenager. I was not really overweight. I did active things. I also enjoyed food, a lot. When I got into my 20's I started noticing I was putting on weight. After I was married in 2004 we decided we wanted to start having children. We started trying and it just wasn't working for us. I went to the doctor after almost a year of trying and was told that I would never have children. This sent me into depression. We finally found PREG. A fertility clinic. They tested me and my husband. It turned out I have a tumor on my pituitary gland. This was caused from the birth control I was on. The tumor is benign thankfully. After they got me on the right medicines it took about 2 months and I was pregnant finally. We ended up having 3 wonderful children. As long as I was on my medicine I was fine to conceive.

Even after having our wonderful children. I still felt depressed. I stopped working and stayed home to take care of the children. My wonderful husband works very hard to support our family. I just could not get myself motivated. I could feel the weight coming on. So instead of doing something about it I just kept eating. I tried several times to lose weight. I would lose 10 lbs or 15 lbs. Get excited and "celebrate" it. I was the biggest I had ever been in my life. Bigger than at 9 months pregnant with any of my children. Last September I turned 30 I said all year I wanted to lose weight, be a certain size by my birthday.  The day came and went and I was still at the same size doing nothing about it. I was the parent I never wanted to be. I was the big soccer mom standing on the side lines. I would not play with the kids at the park because I was too tired to. I could not fit down the slide with them. So I just turned back to eating. I had an addiction to sodas and food. I would drink a 12 pack of soda in 2 days. I remember eating an entire pack of Oreo's by myself in one sitting. Feeling bad about it I went and got another snack. I looked at my children and said what kind of example am I setting for them. I want to be there for them, and want them to live healthy lifestyles. My son's birthday is in January. Getting things ready for his party I finally realized that I needed to change something. I started working out and lost 15 lbs. I felt great about it. Then I "celebrated" again and gained it all back plus some more. At the end of February 2013 I was almost 270 lbs and in a size 22 pants. I was miserable. I saw pictures of myself from my sons birthday and it sent me into a deep depression. This time was different though. I finally was motivated. I finally was going to do something about it. I joined a gym and got a personal trainer. This was the best decision of my life. The workouts at the gym have been amazing. I also started doing some things at home. I found I like to walk and run. I joined a wonderfully supportive group of fellow mama's. We do monthly challenges, support each other, keep each other accountable for what we eat, what workouts we do etc... This group of ladies has been amazing for me. I also found the blog Muffin Top-less. I got a lot of information from her. She has wonderful recipes and workouts. I joined her group for the bikini body program. I started that program as well. Those ladies are also very supportive and motivating. I also started eating clean. I cut out processed foods, sodas, limited sodium and sugars. I upped my daily intake of proteins and water. My family is also eating this way which is very helpful. I am not surrounded with all of the unhealthy choices I was making before. I have surrounded myself with positive, motivating people. I am finally on the right track. Because of all the changes I have made, and all the love, support, and motivation from everyone in my life now I am down 61 lbs and am now in a size 12. I still have a ways that I want to go. I started this blog to help keep myself motivated and on track and hopefully help motivate some other people as well.

This is me last summer with my daughter at the park. I didn't want to play or anything with them. The second picture is this summer while we were hiking. I love including my family in my healthy journey.

About me

I am married to the most amazing man in the whole world. This year we will be celebrating our 9 year wedding anniversary. It has been the most amazing 9 years of my life. We have 3 wonderful children together. Riley is our oldest. He is such a smart fun loving child. He is 6 years old going on 30. He has a very mechanical mind. He is always trying to figure things out. He likes to know why things are the way they are and how they work. He loves soccer, running, video games, reading, MMA, and golf. He is a wonderful big brother. He always makes sure his brother and sister have what they need. He is like a second Daddy to them. He is very caring and loving. Collin is our middle child. He is 4 years old. He is our little free spirit. He has an artistic mind. He marches to the beat of his own drum. He loves to do art work, has a great fashion sense, likes soccer, cooking, cleaning, golf, doing puzzles, swimming and hiking. He is a very unique individual. I love to see the things that his mind comes up with. He is very helpful, kind, and caring. Callie is our youngest. She is almost 2 years old. She rules the house. Whatever Callie says goes with her brothers. She is a mommy's girl. She loves doggies, books, playing with baby dolls, Legos, purses and shoes, and swimming. She is the sweetest girl I have ever known. She is very sweet and caring. She knows what she wants and tells you what she wants, even if you don't understand it. She is very curious. She completed our family. I am thankful for my wonderful family. They are my whole world. I decided later in life to continue my education. I am finishing up my degree and will be adding my Masters degree. I love to cook. I enjoy coming up with new concoctions that we have never tried before. I also like doing outdoor things with my family. I have two wonderful brothers who both have amazing families. They are both two of my best friends. I am so happy that our families are all so close.