Oh My! I said it!

I know that I am not the only stay at home mom out there that would like to lose a few lbs. by the summer, so I decided that if I'm going to succeed in this venture then I need to be held accountable. So this is where the whole blogging thing will come in handy I suppose. What made me decide to finally do this? Well, the normal reasons of course like fitting in a favorite pair of jeans or looking good in a bathing suit are all part of this decision, but the main reason is a crazy promise I made to my husband. I told him that I would like to fit into my wedding dress again by our anniversary on August 7th. We will be married for 6, yes 6 years! Time has sure flown by! In order to accomplish this I believe I would need to lose about 15 pounds, but I'm going to say 20 to be on the safe side, why not! Between having Adalyn and a very VERY stressful year last year and on top of that working in a restaurant at the time, I let my girlish figure get a way from me just a bit ;) Last summer/ fall I was doing pretty well and went from 196lbs. (OH MY! I said it) to a current 174lbs. After having healing from surgery in September and then the holidays came.... and went....and then the New Year is so cliche to begin dieting (those are my excuses and I'm sticking to them! ), so here we are in April and I feel like there aren't any more reasons not to get back on the wagon!

Just a funny/ sad aside: For Christmas by wonderful husband bought me an iPhone, which I absolutely love and I can't imagine life without it! Anyway, I came across an application called Fitness Pal. The application is a calorie counter and it asks you how many pounds a week you'd like to lose and you enter your activity level and it calculates how many calories a day you can consume to reach your goal. So here's the sad part... I wanted to see if I did absolutely no exercise and stuck to the allotted 1200 calories a day if I could lose 2 pounds a week! Yes I know this is ridiculous, but ... well there is no excuse, thus the confession people ;) Number One: I realized it was pretty much impossible to eat that few of calories and not be starving throughout the day and Number Two: I'm smart enough to realize that exercise is good for you and is something I do enjoy, once I make myself do it and get in the habit. Moral of the story: I will not only watch my calorie intake (Maybe more like 1500-1600 calories/day) AND I will exercise!

I LOVE to be outside, I am the type of person who literally could NOT live in places like Alaska.... I NEED the sunshine and fresh air, otherwise I would be so depressed and miserable! Fortunately, my boss a.k.a Adalyn, also loves to be outside! We are going to go for lots of walks and go to the park as often as possible! I'm also going to start going back to the gym for Bodypump, a class I used to do a lot, but for excuses listed above I haven't went. I am also being more mindful of processed foods and eating only whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables and lots of water! Well I think I'll check in once a week and be accountable, so wish me luck and say a little prayer ;)

MRI results are in!

I went in this afternoon to get the results from my MRI on Friday. I was so nervous all day long, especially after Taylor told me last night how worried he was about it and on top of that a local funeral home sent me a survey about arranging funerals! Good grief that was not good timing AT ALL! lol But when we got to see my doctor, he didn't really tell us anything that we didn't already know, so that's great! The MRI showed a small little cyst on my right ovary, which is really no big deal because I'm prone to them and it's not causing me pain. It also showed a few areas on my lower left side where I have endometriosis, again I've already known that. The MRI confirmed that my right ovary and uterus are all functioning properly and that we would be able to have another baby if we decided to, but we would risk the baby being born prematurely like Adalyn. My left uterus was filled with some blood, which has no way of escaping if you know what I mean ;) It's possible that I've been in so much pain because that uterus keeps contracting harder and harder to get the fluid out, but it can't. Also, it could just be endometriosis on my muscles. I suppose it could be a little bit of both of those things, but who knows! Dr. Citty recommended that Taylor and I go see a Reproductive Endocrinologist in Little Rock on April 8th. He will be able to give us a better idea of what to do in our situation. Dr. Citty mentioned a possibility of developing uterine cancer in my left uterus due to the fluid irritating the lining, but he doesn't know much about it, thus the referral. The Reproductive Endocrinologist will also tell us what carrying another baby to full term would entail and any risks that would have. So in the mean time Dr. Citty has me on continuous birth control pills to keep me from more fluid building up and to keep my endometriosis in check. I really appreciate all of the prayers that have been sent our way and we are just so thankful to have wonderful friends and family! Love you all!

Our Trip to Garvan Gardens

We had a fun and relaxing weekend even though it seemed to go by so fast! On Friday morning I got up early to go to my MRI appointment at 7:30, which was very VERY early for me, but I survived. They did an MRI from the bottom of my rib cage through part of my thigh, so surely they should be able to find the source of the pain and he also did a MRI with contrast (they put a dye in my blood that will show up on the scans). He said that the contrast will highlight any possible tumors and/or infections, so if there is anything serious wrong it will definitely show up! I get my results on Monday at 3:00. so please keep the prayers coming :)

After I got home around 10:00, we planned on taking a trip down to Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, AR for the Tulip Extravaganza. Taylor and I have been going there every year for the past 4 years, I believe. It is just such a beautiful place and I highly suggest going there if you ever have the chance! Here are a few pictures we took while we were there:

Adalyn last year at Garvan Gardens.

Adalyn this year at Garvan Gardens!

Adalyn Grace: 21 months old

Taylor and I :)

Last year when we went to Garvan Gardens, Adalyn was just learning to sit up on her own and this year she wanted to walk and run ALL by herself! It's amazing how much she has changed in just one year! We left the gardens around 2:30 and decided that we would make a stop by Papa and Nana's house on the way home. Usually they come with us to Garvan Gardens, but due to schedules this year they couldn't come. We enjoyed eating dinner and visiting with them and here is a pretty funny picture of Adalyn playing in their backyard...

We are looking forward to going to Coffeyville, Kansas to visit Clint, Sara, and Morgan for Easter this coming weekend! We are planning a trip to the Tulsa Zoo and spending time with their family! I hope that everyone has a wonderful week and I'll keep you posted on my MRI results!

So here we go...

I have never thought myself to be the blogging type, but I really enjoy following other people's blogs, so I decided to step into uncharted territory and give this whole blogging thing a whirl, so here we go! I'll probably need to warn you that the majority of these postings will be related to my sweet but oh so naughty 21 month old daughter, Adalyn, for the simple reason that I spend 99.9% of my time with her as a stay at home mom. I have been very blessed to have the opportunity to be at home with Adalyn for the past year. It was most definitely a tough decision, but this is by far the most rewarding "job" and the toughest I've ever had. She is at the age where she picks up on everything and by everything I mean EVERYTHING! I am known to have a wide variety of facial expressions, which apparently my sponge of a daughter had picked up on. Here is an example....She makes this face at least ten times a day, and the funny part is that she usually isn't mad when she does it. She thinks it's funny and will laugh immediately after! So this is pretty much a glimpse of what she sees when I'm telling her no! Oh my! She had also become a little rule enforcer in our home. If she sees me sitting on the coffee table, standing on a chair, or accidentally dropping food on the floor (all things she gets in trouble for) she has no problem telling me "No Ma'am"! Oh boy am I in trouble or what! lol

In other less exciting news, I finally get to have an MRI done on Friday morning! For those who don't know I had surgery in September to remove an ovarian cyst on my left ovary that was the size of a grapefruit! During the surgery, the doctor removed my left ovary and fallopian tube, but also discovered that instead of having a normal sized uterus I have two small uteruses. Yes I'm aware how crazy that is! So currently I have two uteruses, one ovary, and one kidney! Talk about backwards! During the surgery. he also found endometriosis (when uterine lining grows in other places beside the uterus)! Since about the beginning of last year I have been in quite a lot of pain on my left lower abdomen and back usually lasting around 2 weeks out of the month... NOT FUN! Pain medicines, heat, etc., nothing could even damper the pain I was feeling! So in the late summer, when the doctor discovered The Grapefruit, I could not wait to have it out and to get my life back! After the surgery, I was feeling pretty good, still had some pain (probably from the endometriosis), but nothing compared to what it was. Unfortunately, the past two or three months that awful pain is back, pretty much leaving my life up to how much pain I'm in that particular day. Sooo back to the doctor I go, and he pretty much has no idea what's going on, so we both concluded that an MRI should show us what is causing my pain. I get my MRI results on Monday afternoon, so I will keep you posted on the results! Please keep me in your prays that it's nothing too serious :)

Anyway, Adalyn and I spent the afternoon at the park with a group of friends from our church. We had an awesome time, even though it got a little chilly when the sun went behind the clouds and a bunch of unruly daycare kids basically took over the play ground :( We all were very grateful that we were able to stay home with our kiddos and not placed in this particular daycare.... what a nightmare! Well I think that wraps up my first posting, but there should be more to come so stay tuned ;)