happy halloween!

From this happy little hunter & his prey. I hope you all had a fun and safe night last night!

to brighten up your monday...

Cardigan: H&M | Shirt: Zara | Pants: Target | Shoes: eBay

Cause he sure brightens up mine. Every day.
I mean, just look at that face!!!

let them eat...

Dirt apparently. Or at least while daddy is baby sitting.

Last night, Justin was in meetings, and I was getting the little guy for bed. He was getting a little crazy, so I made his bottle and gave it to him while I finished picking up a few things. As I'm putting his books away, I feel a little hand on my leg, and I look down, and he is pushing his bottle into my face.

Now I realize some may not see this for the big deal that it is, so let me just tell you. To this little guy, bottles are nigh unto sacred. The Holy Grail of possessions. "Drop everything you are holding the moment you see one come in sight" special. So the fact that he was sharing it with me, must mean he thinks I'm pretty special too. Or that I look hungry. Either way, this kid melts my heart. Every Day.

Lets talk about...

Weight loss. Boo.

Having this baby and trying to loose the baby weight has been a real kick in the pants, I tell ya.

totally worth it though. little j & I on our first morning after he was born

When I was pregnant with Jasper, I gained about 50 Ibs. Boo again. And mind you, I was pretty healthy throughout my pregnancy. I ate well, and was exercising up until the last week and a half. A week before I went into labor, we were hiking around the Utah gardens in Lehi.

Big as a boat pregnant at 40 weeks (top) and 39 weeks (above)

Everything was smooth sailing until about the last 3 hours of labor. Little J never dropped. We didn't know at the time, but it was because he had was wrapped himself around the shoulder, waist, and hip up in his too-short cord. Consequently, every time I had a contraction the stupid thing was squeezing him half to death. Poor guy came out looking like he had done 12 rounds in a boxing ring.

Our little Quasimodo.

So, I had to have an emergency Cesarean. And even with all the bad wrap cesareans get (and believe me, I was teary eyed going into the OR), I am very, very grateful, because it definitely saved one, or both of our lives.

meeting each other for the first time.
I was really concerned about his little nose.
In my defense, I was a bit out of it. 

I was told that my recovery might be a little longer than a regular delivery, but I felt pretty great after the delivery; I was up and walking the next afternoon. I think I got a little too overconfident, because I decided to start exercising more than the suggested walking before the recommended time.

Because everything is still moving back after having baby, and you are still carrying around a bunch of extra weight that your body isn't use to supporting, they generally suggest you wait at least 6 weeks before exercising. Medically, you are still deemed "pregnant" until 6 weeks postpartum.

I don't know if Cesareans make things more complicated (I wouldn't think so, but honestly I know nothing, obviously), and clearly there is no "formula" that works for everyone, but I ended up putting a lot of extra stress on my back, and getting myself a pretty severely herniated disc. BOOOOO again.

So for the last 7 months, the pain from the disc has been off & on, interfering with my ability to do much of any physical activity.When I felt good, I usually tended to overdo it (Crossfit anyone?) and usually ended up aggravating it again.

It wasn't until last month that I was able to get an epidural to treat it (my foot is still numb, but hey, I can bend over), and start to feel confident that hopefully this thing is gone for good. (The guys that I work with are so sweet, they saw me hobbling around, bent in half for a while, so now whenever they see me, they always ask "How's your back?" *Face Palm*).

I've finally started seeing results though. The other thing that really has made a difference for me has been getting on the right dosage of Metformin. I have PCOS (an infertility, insulin absorption disorder), which makes it very hard to loose & maintain weight, and in the last 2 weeks since my disc has been treated and I've been on the right dosage for PCOS, I've lost 11 Ibs. YAY!

I'd still like to loose an extra 20 to be at my ideal weight though. So here is my question:

What works for everyone else? What routines etc. do you like? I don't mind cutting out unhealthy foods, but I'm not a big dieter. I find that a lifestyle of healthy eating habits is waaay more effective than any diet.

What can I try though? That is what I want to know. And I want to be held accountable for what I'm doing. So I'm going to be doing a "Health Progress Report" post weekly, where I report on my progress, and what I've liked/hated over the previous week.

So here is to babies. And weight loss. And progress. And herniated discs (but not really). Feel free to join in on all the fun if you like to!

"Let's make things happen girl".