The first day of the rest of my life

Today is the day. The day I being my reinvention. Today I will start something, and finish it. I have to. When I look in the mirror, at a picture, all I see is fat. I realize I just had a baby 7 weeks ago, but if I don't start now, I'll be that fat mom dropping her kid off at Kindergarten come next year. I want to be comfortable in my own skin. I want to live to see Brenna & Ryker become grandparents and have left them with a good example of living healthy. I'm not saying Nazi regime type of healthy, just healthy while enjoying the small things in life. I'm not going to starve myself. I'm not going to deny myself a dessert every now and then.

I will make better choices.
I will count calories.
I will exercise. (moderately since I did just have Ryk 7 weeks ago)
I will involve my family with this trek.
I will keep a food journal and post it on here.
I will not buy any clothes until I fit into my size 12 clothes.

I am not interested in the number on the scale as much. What I really want is to be a size 8 and have a healthy BMI.


Here's a picture of me at Bren's 1st Birthday. I was about 148 pounds (I remember this because this was my pre-pregnancy weight.)

Here's a picture from this weekend. I will label this the heaviest I have been (minus my 215 ending pregnancy weight)

Today is the day. The day I being my reinvention.

Ryker Hudson is here!

Our baby boy is here finally! Ryker Hudson was born on August 27, 2010 at 7:36 am via c-section. He weighed in at 7 pounds 15.5 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. He has a head full of hair (explains the heartburn) and I just hope he becomes the kind of man I always dreamed of.

9 more days!!

9 more days until Ryker's arrival and I am so ready. I keep praying it will be sooner. My feet are CONSTANTLY swollen, the heartburn is driving me crazy and I'm pretty sure he's got to be uncomfortable in there. I'm going to walk every night until he gets here hoping I can speed things along. Either way, September 1st he will be here no matter what...it just seems like FOREVER!!!

30 week update

Today was our 30 week appointment and ultrasound. Ryker is 3 1/2 pounds, heartbeat is a strong 133 beats per minute. Poor guy is running out of space so it was hard to get good pictures of him. He was sitting on his feet and had his hands in his face. We scheduled the c-section with the hospital. Wednesday, September 1st at 8 am. Here's some ultra-sound pictures of the little Ry Guy.

Mother's Day

No monetary gifts. I think that really says more than money. My mom took us Saturday to get pictures done. I didn't know it was my gift, i really thought I was doing something for her. :) I love the pictures. Below is are a few of my faves of the Bear and I.

Adding a little prince to our mix!!

We had our 19 week appointment yesterday. We also had an ultrasound and learned that we are having a boy. I was excited to say the least. Daddy wanted a girl, but he'll be ok! His name will Ryker Hudson. Paul found the name Ryker. I squinted for a moment (probably like you did) and thought uhm, did you just misspell Ryder. Nope. Then it grew on me. It means strong and becoming rich in Dutch. It's ironically the exact same ranking as Brenna on the social security site. It's an R name which is a Howell tradition for the boys and both of our dads have R names. I wanted an H middle name to match Paul (and as Paul pointed out to also match Howell) so Hudson was added. I love it!!! Brenna & Ryker. We're blessed to have these babies! I can't wait to meet our little Ry Guy. Now on to the fun stuff---shopping and decorating.

14 Week Dr. Visit

Last Wednesday I had my 14 week check up. I didn't think ahead of time and a 3 pm appt meant Brenna had to come with me. She was very excited to go with me although at first she was concerned that she had hurt the baby. Sweet girl! When we got to the appt she was quiet then 30 minutes passes and she is all over the waiting room, testing all the boundaries she can. An hour later we finally get to see Dr. Montgomery and myself and the doctor couldn't get a word in. She talked the entire time. I'm 4 years old. I eat all my food and sleep in my bed like a big girl. Milk makes me cough and chocolate milk too! (It doesn't...not sure where she got that!!) Needless to say, the Mouth of the South will not be at any more doctor appointments!!! It would be different if I didn't have to wait an hour and half to see my dr but a 4 year old has to come up with her own diversions. It's only natural. So at 14 weeks-

1. We're now in the 2nd trimester. My morning sickness, which was few and far between is still few and far between. A new sickness set in Saturday and hopefully Pepto will solve that today.

2. I gained 5 pounds in my 1st trimester. I really have tried not being a garbage disposal. Still haven't kicked the soda habit but have definitely cut it down dramatically. And I still have bad food at times like pizza.

3. Saw the baby's heartbeat. Dr. said its normal and strong. Can't tell me the beats per minute. I am really struggling with not being as technologically advanced as my last dr but bedside manner really is more important to me.

The next appointment is April 14th and that's our big ultrasound. If the little marshmallow cooperates we'll be able to tell you if we are expecting a Mr. Jackson Benjamin or Miss. Kinley Sloane. :) I'm excited about it. Not worried because I really don't care if its a boy or girl- just want to know that development is going well. Well- and after we move and know where we will be---DECORATING will be so much fun!! :)