The worst good news

***WARNING - Men may want to avoid reading this post. Women's personal issues discussed***

Okay, so some of you know that I had problems getting pregnant with Luke. I was diagnosed a year and a half go with Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). It comes with a lot of unpleasant symptoms, one of which is annovulation.

I didn't realize I had a problem until I went off of birth control two years ago to try and get pregnant. Anyone who has been on BC knows that it will make you have periods. So after I stopped, I had a couple of menstrual cycles that were irregular and then they stopped altogether. I went in to see my OB-GYN and that's when I found out about the PCOS. I started fertility treatments and was fortunate to have the basic treatments work so I didn't have to go to a specialist. I obviously was successful getting pregnant and have been blessed with another beautiful son.

I wasn't sure what would happen after this pregnancy. I decided to hold off on BC until I knew what was happening. Well, I got the worst good news this morning. I started menstruating! I know...goofy thing to be excited about. I feel horrible with the cramping and all, but the last regular cycle I had was the one before I got pregnant with Andrew nearly 4 years ago. Hopefully, I will start having regular cycles on my own without medication of any form. That's part of the reason I want to get some weight off. Unnecessary weight makes it worse. Unfortunately weight gain and trouble losing are part of the problems that come with PCOS. So I may have a long haul ahead of me. I'm going to try my hardest. Now if my little guy would sleep through the night again, I might get somewhere. Once I decided to really get with the workouts, he stopped sleeping through the night so I'm so exhausted I can barely function, let alone safely workout. I'm not giving up though. I'm going to try anew every day!

Body Revolt....

So I'm determined to get off the weight I've gained since I got married almost 4 years ago. Most of it came from my pregnancy with Andrew. I've been lucky enough to have already lost the pregnancy weight from Luke. It's been hard to get motivated - hard to find uninterrupted time with two kids, hard to take the time for myself, hard to workout when I'm so out of shape, hard to work out when I don't get enough sleep. Yesterday I decided to shut my internal trap and just do it.

Clayton and I bought a treadmill a couple of years ago, hoping we could avoid the excuses of not having time/money to go to the gym. It's collected a lot of dust over those two years. I did exercise and got off about 17 lbs a year ago, but then I got pregnant again. But now's the time.

So I have the equipment. I have no good excuse anymore. I've decided that instead of just walking, I'll do hill intervals to increase the intensity and keep things a little bit interesting. Wow..I'm really out of shape. My body is in full revolt today. I still got up and did my workout, but it didn't take long for all of my leg muscles to scream out in burning pain. I walked through it and feel great now. Tomorrow, I'm expecting an even bigger revolt.

I'm doing it though. My cousin, Amy, has asked me to be Matron-of-Honor in her wedding and I am not going to be the "fat bridesmaid". I have about a year to get down to where I want to be. That means about 50-55lbs and a lot of work. But that's really only a pound a week and a very realistic goal. And I have the help of my friend, Heidi, too. She and I are both trying to get some baby weight off so we check in with each other pretty much every day so we have someone to hold us each accountable. She's been doing much better than I have lately, so I have some serious repenting and catching up to do.

So here's to success ... and less revolt from my body!

Garden Time...

So, my goal was to get our garden in a month ago, but it didn't happen. Too many other things got in the way. I did manage to get it in before I did last year. But, it's official. We have a garden! We decided to plant only things that we are able to can or freeze. So we put in tomato plants, onions, green beans, beets, carrots, cucumbers and peas. We got a free cabbage plant so we stuck that in to for kicks and giggles. I also decided to get a couple of patio pots and we planted some strawberries in there. Now we are hoping in a couple of months to be able to harvest some of the fruits of our labors! I love spring time.

Look out flower garden...here I come!

Smiley Baby

In the last week or so, Luke has really gotten down the smiling thing. It doesn't take much to get him to smile.He's even starting to laugh a little bit. I don't think there is anything cuter than a baby smiling. It's hard to fathom that he's already two months old. Where has the time gone? I'm sure a lot of it has been lost in the fuzz and fog of not enough sleep and long days! I've been pretty lucky overall though. He's a really happy baby. The only time he cries is if he's hungry or gets hurt. What a sweet little baby!

Happy Birthday, Andrew! (A Week Late)

So, my "Baby" turned 3 last week. I can't believe it's been that long. He's changed so much over the past three years.

He was a quiet and really good baby. Very calm. Slept through the night at 2 weeks old.

Super smiley and just really a happy baby.

Always curious about new things and if it was new, he had to touch it.

Then the "terrible twos" kicked in and he got a little attitude...

He's still got a mind of his own. And now he's a big brother, too! Happy Birthday, Andrew! Here's to another year of firsts, fun and family!

Dreams and Reality

Have you ever had a dream that in some way creeps into reality? The dream feels so real that it's hard to distinguish it from reality? I had one of those last night. And I freaked out Clayton. But first... Anyone who knows me very well knows that I am prone to fits of uncontrolled laughter. I mean belly-rolling, tear-streaming can't stop if I wanted to laughter. Most of the time it happens when I'm super tired. Okay, back to my dream: In it, Clayton handed me his cell phone and asked me to call his sister, Bonnie. I pushed the button to use voice command. "Please say a command."
"Call Bonnie Mobile".
"Did you say Eric Sans?"
Huh? "No."
"Please say a command."
"Call Bonnie Mobile."
"Did you say Eric Mobile?"
"NO! What is wrong with this dumb phone?"
From the phone I hear a woman's voice say, "I'm sorry. Sometimes there is a glitch in the system."
Not expecting to hear a real live person, I closed the phone and started laughing hysterically.

The next thing I remember, Clayton is shaking me awake. "Sweetheart, are you okay?" All he could feel was my body shaking. He thought I was crying. Through the same type of laughter in my dream I respond, "Uh, huh."
"Was that a yes?"
"Uh, huh."
"Are you laughing or crying?"
"Laughing."

I was laughing so hard I couldn't stop. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. Now, mind you, it's 5 o'clock in the morning. I'm still laughing. I flew out of bed and ran to the bathroom to avoid peeing my pants. Clayton is laughing at me. I climbed back into bed and finally pulled myself together. By this time, Clayton is snoring away again.

Life has been kind of stressful adjusting to a new baby and all. I needed a good laugh. But I didn't need it at 5am!