Finally a DIET that WORKS!

Ha, ha! Just kidding..... I haven't actually found a diet that works. For those of you that don't know, I gained about 43 pounds throughout my pregnancy. That is the equivalent of a grade school child I was lugging around! I'm not normally a scale watcher, but when you are pregnant you are forced to endure weekly weigh-ins. Everybody says it's normal and healthy to gain weight while you are pregnant. DUH! I get that. But that didn't make it any easier to watch the scale continue to go up even though I was working out practically every day and watching what I ate. (technically, I was just watching food go into my mouth, but I wasn't "eating for two") Anyway, I remember leaving the hospital after having Everett and I felt SKINNY! In hindsight, I wasn't anywhere near skinny. But I did look thinner and I probably dropped a quick 15 pounds of baby and water weight.

Fast forward to today: I am officially 5 pounds away from my driver's license weight! WHOA! This is huge because I haven't actually weighed that much since I was a freshman in high school. Right this second I am 15 pounds LIGHTER than when I got pregnant. It's a miracle :) Okay, it's not a miracle..... it's more like a combination of things. Mainly CrossFit, breastfeeding, and eating clean. Ben and I are on week 2 of our Paleo challenge. I found this great quick explanation for anybody that's interested. I will admit that it has been hard to give up dairy and sugar, but my body seems to be responding positively.

The bottom line is this: Diets don't work! Changing your LIFESTYLE does :)

June Recap

Okay, it's official ..... I'm a slacker. I let life get in the way of updating the blog this past month, but don't worry here's a quick run down of what we've been up to:

1. SEATTLE - We spent the second weekend in June watching the Northwest Regional Competition. This was Everett's first plane ride and he did great. We actually had a couple people tell us they didn't even know there was a baby on board because he was so good! We were so proud:) Anyway, when we weren't supporting Andy we explored Seattle (which included Pike's Market)

2. SUN VALLEY - 5B CrossFit in Hailey Idaho partnered up with Ketchum's Fire Department to host a fundraising workout so naturally Ben and I wanted to go. Sun Valley Magazine posted an article about the event. Check it out here. If you scroll down the article you can see yours truly attempting to heave a 40lb sandbag over a 7' wall. It was SO fun! They had a division for first responders that Ben competed in. You had to wear your turnouts, including helmet, for the entire workout. Ben competed in that division while I went civilian....

3. SWIMMING - Everett went swimming for the first time! Okay, he didn't really swim, but he went in a swimming pool a few times. In fact, we have been taking him to the neighborhood pool and he seems to be enjoying it. The following pic is Everett, post swim, and after he peed on the living room floor! (You can see the puddle:))

4. 10K - Everett and I ran our first 10K today. It wasn't a race and we didn't get a cool shirt for finishing, but we had fun. We ran the 10k at the Asylum with our fellow Crossfitters. We did not break any records, but Everett and I finished in one hour and 30 sec.

5. DRIVER'S TEST - Well, I passed half of it.... which is better than none of it, but not as good as passing it completely. Stay tuned.....I will be retaking it soon.

6. CRAWLING - This little guy is officially on the move!

More Teeth

Today brings the end to yet another fun-filled week :) We had an exciting day today because...... I found 2 more teeth popping up in Everett's mouth! I've noticed that he started coughing a lot again so I felt around in his mouth and there were 2 little sharp edges poking up through his gums. These 2 new additions are located right next to his pre-existing teeth (bottom front). It's funny how excited I get about Everett hitting his milestones. He is SOOO close to crawling it's unreal. He gets up on his hands and knees now and rocks back and forth. As soon as he figures out how to move I have a feeling we will be in trouble. This kid wants to get his hands on EVERYTHING. You can literally see him zero in on an object and within nano seconds he is trying to get his hands on it and get it into his mouth.

In other news, I have my W.O.C. test on Tuesday (Working Out of Class). This is a big one folks. Passing this test not only means I can drive the big red truck, but I will get my last step raise as a firefighter. I actually went through the driver's academy last spring while I was pregnant, but was unable to take the WOC test at the time due to my expanding waistline. (it had to be funny to watch me waddle around in bunker pants hauling hose and jumping in and out of the cab. :)) I feel pretty confident and I just hope my nerves don't kick in the day of the test. I'll keep you updated.

Lastly, I love my husband. I dont know too many guys who could watch their small child for 48 hours by themselves on a regular basis. Husband and Father of the YEAR! Love You Ben!

Mothers

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. This was my first official Mother's Day and I couldn't have asked for a better day. I have a new respect for my mom after becoming one and I want to give her a special shout out "Love You Mom". Ben had to work this Mother's Day (one of the sacrifices you make when you are married to a firefighter...... times 2) So we celebrated on Saturday; Everett and Ben gave me an awesome mother's day present. . . . . some bumper plates for the garage gym:) I can't wait. What a great husband and son;) This weekend my brother and his wife snuck into town (literally) to surprise my mom for the weekend. Ben and I invited mom out to breakfast Saturday morning and when they got there Jason and Rachel were sitting/hiding at a nearby table. Mom was SUPER SURPRISED so the breakfast was a success. We also had Rachel take some photos of Everett and I can't wait to see how they turned out.

This little guy is sportin' a bubble bath beard and he LOVES it!

Thanks E for letting me be your mommy!

Lil' Picasso

Everett's first painting.....watercolors :)

Crafts & Crossfit

I don't know what's happened to me, but lately I have been feeling sort of creative. Those that know me will be shocked, but it's true. It all started when I decided I would make a diaper cake for Kelley's baby shower a couple months ago. I busted out some ribbon, decorative pieces, and a hot glue gun and went to town! And, it turned out pretty good. When Tabitha's baby shower came around I attempted diaper cake #2 (this time for a girl) and that one turned out pretty good too:)

So, my latest craft discovery has been Mod Podge. That's right.... craft glue! It sounds silly, but it is really fun to use. So I crafted this little Spring Door Wreath (idea curtesy of another crafty blogger) and hung it up. Looks good and it was SUPER SIMPLE.

This week also brings up the final week in the CrossFit Open. If you don't know about CrossFit or the CrossFit Games you should really learn:) Seriously, the BEST workout I could ever do. It's helped me to get stronger, faster, and heal injuries. Anyway, our gym has been competing in the Open over the last 6 weeks. There is a workout every week and each individual submits their scores on a weekly basis. Each individual is ranked with other athletes from around the world! Pretty intense, and oh so fun. Our team has successfully qualified for the next step in the competition.... Northwest Regionals. Regionals are just outside of Tacoma in June. There is still so much I need to work on; muscle-ups, handstand push-ups, one-legged squats. I will be busy over the next month. For you mothers out there; I credit CrossFit with keeping me healthy during my pregnancy, a relatively easy birth, a quick recovery, and getting rid of all of that baby weight! YEAH! Anyway, Everett went with me to the gym this morning to complete the final workout. He is sporting his mohawk and his "Born to Crossfit" shirt to help support me:)

Lastly, Everett has figured out how to perform consecutive rolls:) This means that he can now travel across the floor all by himself. The problem, the poor little guy prefers to roll one direction which means when he meets an obstacle he gets stuck! Too funny! I think this kid will be crawling in no time:)

Mommy

Dear Everett,

Growing up I always knew that I wanted children. When it came time for me and your dad, Ben, to make the decision to start trying to have kids I was nervous, but excited at the same time. Now that you are here I can't imagine my life without you. People are right, you will love your child more than you thought possible. "E", you are a little miracle. . . and you are MY little miracle. I am amazed by you EVERY SINGLE DAY. I can't wait for you to grow up! But I also want you to stay 7 months old forever! I know my life has forever been changed by you, our little bundle of joy, and I couldn't be happier. I am officially a "mommy" and I LOVE IT!

Love,

Your Mommy

Easter Sunday

Yesterday was Easter Sunday and this year was Everett's first time celebrating. Of course I went out and bought "E" an Easter basket complete with candy (which he cannot have yet) and a stuffed zebra that he picked out. I even filled some plastic eggs with candy and I let him shake them to make noise. I was actually scheduled to work all weekend but I took some vacation time Sunday so I could spend the day at home. We went to an early dinner at Chris and Dirk's house around 3:00 and my mom and dad joined us. We had one of my favorite dishes, pesto flank steaks, courtesy of Dirk. Once we finished dinner it was time for me to go back to work. I can't wait until next year when Everett can "find" the eggs:)