3 Month Update

My beautiful baby boy is now 3 months old! Well, today he's almost 3 and a half. I feel like I say this a lot - but man does time fly! 

So, what is the little man up to these days? Well, he is still a very happy little baby. The easiest one we've had by far, although the other two were great babies as well. He always has big smiles for me when I go get him in the mornings and will frequently give them to all of us throughout the day. He's not shy either! He'll pretty much smile at anyone who pays attention to him. He loves it when Shaela sings to him - which is a favorite past time of hers and so incredibly adorable to watch! 

He won't be weighed and measured again until his 4 month check up in August, but if I had to guess, I'd say he's around 14 pounds and 25 or so inches long. We just switched him over to size 6 month clothes and he's still in the size small covers for his cloth diapers, although we've had to adjust which snaps we do them up on. He's holding his head up like a PRO! And he loves to sit up and face the world to see what's going on around him. He's very observant and tracks us with his eyes when we move. And....my favorite thing - he's found his thumb! Shaela was about this age when she started sucking hers as well and I always thought it was so cute! I just hope he decides to give it up on his own like she did! 

He's got his momma's dark eyes, although they aren't really brown yet - more of a green colour still. His hair is so short still that it's hard to tell what colour it will end up. It's darker than Xavier or Shaela's was at this age so I have a feeling it will be brown, but time will tell.

All in all, I have no complaints. Cohen has made life with three kids such a blessing! He really is a wonderful little baby and we are so happy to have him as part of our family! 

Weight Loss Update

After running for a few weeks and not seeing much difference on the scale, I decided to start counting calories to see where I could improve my eating. I pretty much knew before I started that it's the snacks that kill me - I LOVE to bake. And I LOVE to eat it afterwards! But, cookies aren't exactly healthful snack food. Especially when you eat ten a day. 

Now, I've always vowed that I would never go on any sort of 'diet' since I want my weight loss to be something that I can maintain long term. And I've always been intimidated about counting calories, since I make a lot of things from scratch and just felt like it was too much work. However, after doing it for a few days, I have found that I have a lot more freedom - and a LOT less guilt! - by figuring out how many calories are in my meals and my snacks. Now, instead of bingeing on junk and just saying "oh well", I pay attention to how many calories I've had in my meals and if I have a couple hundred left at the end of the day, I can eat a cookie or two without feeling guilty, since I know I'm not over my limit for the day. It's been a great way to hold myself accountable - and the first week I started I lost 3.2 lbs!!! Talk about motivation to keep going! 

My second week didn't go quite as well and it's because we went camping and I wasn't as strict with the snacks. Who can resist smores when you're camping? It's a staple of the outdoors! I weighed in before we left and I was down another 2 lbs, but after coming back from camping, I had gained one back. Which brings my two week weight loss total to 4.2 lbs. My goal is 2 lbs a week, so I'm doing good so far. And I'm proud of the fact that I've been sticking with it!

Getting Fit and Having Fun!

I am overweight. I have been for quite a while. And I'm not proud of it. Or happy about it. In fact, it depresses me, which makes me want to eat chocolate. Which in turn keeps me fat. BUT - I am finally doing something about it! 

I vowed after Xavier to get back into shape and it didn't happen. I vowed the same thing after Shaela, and finally started exercising about a month before I got pregnant with Cohen. Which didn't help me out much. But I am bound and determined that I won't have to say this after the next baby (at least as far as losing 'extra' weight - I'll still have to work off the baby weight).

So, what am I doing you ask? Well, last summer Jared and I bought a treadmill (hence, the starting to work out before getting pregnant). I went on it sporadically while pregnant, but now that I can actually run again, that has been my go-to exercise. I really enjoy it and it's fun for me to see how long I can push myself for. Just one more minute. And then when that minute is up, can I go one more? It's great. However, I was finding that going on for a set amount of time each day wasn't necessarily the motivation that I needed. Then, about two and a half weeks ago, I decided to set a distance goal for myself during my time on there. I decided to start running a 5K every day (which is 3.1 miles). And to do it within 40 minutes. I was a bit surprised at first to see that I could actually do it and not feel like I was going to die by the end of it.

Then, what do you know? At the end of my first week there was an announcement in the church bulletin about a 5K Run for Aids on October 2nd. So I decided to register. I know if I have an event to actually train for, it will give me extra motivation to keep up my running! My goal is to be able to run the whole distance (right now I take about two walking breaks for a couple minutes in between). And I want to do it in under half an hour. With 12 weeks left to train, I think I'll be able to do it. The only problem is that I injured my left knee in high school, so I can't run every day or it bothers me. Not a huge obstacle - it just means that instead of running 5K every single day, I do a workout video and a one mile run on my off-running days. So far, that seems to be working. 

I'm really curious to see how much weight and how many inches I lose in the process of all of this. Even if I don't have a huge amount of weight loss, if I am losing inches and feeling better about my body, I'll be happy. Being healthier in general is always a good goal to work towards!