Put One Foot in Front of the Other!

And very soon, Munchkin will be walking out the door!

Here's a peak at the munchkin's first steps!

Father's Day!

ok, so Father's Day was over a week ago... but I still wanted to share what our little family did to celebrate!

Naomi and I each got Brad a card--

And some See's candy and chocolate covered cinnamon bears-- Brad will testify that "boys like getting chocolate on their special days, too!"

And I made (yes, made) Brad a tie-- with Penguins on it!

Part of Brad's chocolate was an Awesome Bar (peanut brittle dipped in chocolate) from See's that Naomi seems to think is hers.

Happy Father's Day, Brad!

Non-Scale Victory!

 I got a huge metaphorical pat on the back this morning for the efforts I've been putting into trying to be healthier.  Back in March, I started going to this place on BYU's campus called Y-Be-Fit.  They measured tons of stuff-- cholesterol, body composition, weight, bmi, strength (upper body, lower body, and core), and VO2max.  In July, I will get to repeat all of the tests to see my improvement in each of those areas.

But today, I participated in a research study, and one part of it measured my body composition using a BodPod.  It's accurate at measuring body fat %age within 1-2%; they even use it on The Biggest Loser to measure contestants' body fat %age (even thought that's not the measure used in competition).  I pulled out my results from March's BodPod test, and compared.  My body fat %age dropped 7%age points!!!  And, even better-- my "fat free mass" (which is basically everything except fat) increased! 
*(I should also recognize that I was breastfeeding Naomi when I took the first BodPod test, and now she is fully weened.  The test administrator said that breastfeeding can inflate the body fat %age by up to 2%.  Even if that's true, I still went down 5%, and that's still awesome!)

Score!  It's a HUGE deal for me.  It proves that I'm doing this the healthy way; I'm doing it right.  I'm losing fat weight and gaining lean body mass.  I'm getting healthier everyday and I feel amazing.  I'm so grateful to Heavenly Father for answering my prayers to guide me to make healthy decisions, learn more about how to be healthy, and have the strength to make the right choices.  Also, my wonderful husband has been very supportive of my efforts and choices; he even tries the new foods I buy.  And thanks for all the support from friends and family-- there have been lots of times when I've hit a rough patch and feel like I'm struggling when one of you will notice and comment on how much I've improved and it really gives me the boost I need to keep going strong.

My Hubby Spoils Me Too Much!

Yesterday, Brad let me go shopping for some new clothes, which, for the record, I've really been NEEDING since most of mine were falling off and the only thing I felt I could wear were his gym shorts and some on my older t-shirts.  I could literally take off my jeans without unbuttoning them!  It was a bitter-sweet realization that i've lost enough weight and inches to need new clothes :-) , but that I looked ridiculous in my current clothes :-( .  I was having to wear yoga pants under my regular pants so they wouldn't fall down...

It started off FANTASTIC!  Mod Bod was having a parking lot sale-- the ad online said $25 for whatever I can fit in a bag.  I got to the sale 30 minutes early and find out that it's actually $15/bag!  My "allowance" was 1 bag, but since it was only $5 more to get DOUBLE, I got 2 bags!  The first I filled with cute swim suits-- 3 beautiful tankini tops and 4 bottoms, and a lace cami.  The second bag, I filled with a 6 Tee-shirts and a 1 piece bathing suit.  I LOVE my new swim suits!  I would venture to say that they are my favorite swim suits I have ever owned.  And it's awesome to have more than one because the munchkin and I go to the pool so much already! The best part-- I calcuated my savings after I got home.  I spent $30 on what would have cost over $340 retail! Seriously, I saved 91% on that shopping trip! And I love every piece I bought.

We had a yard sale that afternoon, and got rid of a bunch of stuff and made a decent amount of money.  We needed to go food shopping, but Brad said we needed to get non-food stuff first because it was so hot outside.  I've been putting off getting new clothes because I wanted to meet my next weight loss goal first... but since my clothes are falling off, we decided that getting new clothes 2 lbs early was ok.  We got some cute new flip flops (not because my feet have shrunk with my weight, but because I've worn a hole in the heel of my current ones), and stopped to just try on shorts and pants at a few stores.  True to form, nothing fit my ridiculous body-- small waist and huge hips and thighs.  I either couldn't get them over my thighs, or they fit in the thighs and I was swimming in the waist, particularly with a huge gape in the back of my waist that I affectionately call a duck tail butt.

Eventually, we find the one and only store that has ever carried pants to accommodate my excessive "junk in the trunk." Luckily, they were having a sale, too!  And I had an awesome coupon that would save us up to 30% if we calculated right.  I ended up getting 2 pairs of capris (had to get some with a drawstring built into the waist, otherwise I'd have a seriously case of duck tail butt), 2 pairs of straight leg jeans and 1 pair of boot cut jeans in a size (get this!) 14!!!  I have no recollection of EVER wearing a size 14 in my life.  Saving report: We saved a little over 40%.

It was a great day for shopping. Seriously, all purchases combined-- we saved 67%.

Brad spoils me too much, but I like to think I make it worth it for him, because I really saved him some moolah.  :-) 

Munchkin's First Haircut! (sort of)

Naomi got her first haircut today.  It was small, considering she wouldn't stop moving and always turned her head right when Caitlin was about to cut it.

But she can see now, without hair hanging in her eyes.  And breath without inhaling hair.  And eat without munching on her hair.

Look, at her beautiful "corn silk" (as someone called it).

No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk

So, I was pouring the munchkin a sippy cup of milk.  She was really cranky and tired and wanted her milk for nap time.

I poured it all in...

I grabbed the cap from munchkin...

She impatiently reached up for the cup...

the cup tipped...

and milk spilled.  EVERYWHERE. 

The splash radius is the entire kitchen.  and all over mommy.  not a drop on the munchkin.
Naomi started crying because she really wasn't going to get her milk...  and my first thought is:

"No use crying over spilled milk!" ... Unless I have to clean it up with a crying, tired munchkin who still hasn't gotten her milk and needs a nap.  Then it's ok to cry.

A Weekend of Celebrations!

This past Friday, Brad turned the big 2-6!  He's officially more than a quarter of a century old. 

Happy Birthday, Brad!!!

And Sunday was Brad and I's 3rd Anniversary!  It's been a wonderful past 3 years, and Ii'm looking forward to spending the rest of eternity with the love of my life!

Family Pictures!

We have family pictures taken a couple weeks ago.  Here's a couple of our favorites.  And here's a link to our great photographer-- Rachelle Olmos.

Thanks, Rachelle!  We love these.

Munchkin's 1st Birthday!

Munchkin is official a 1 year old-- that's toddler territory.  We celebrated by taking her to the aquarium-- we were going to go to the zoo, but it was kinda chilly outside and threatening rain, so we went to the aquarium instead. 

Munchkin loved the fishies!  Sort of... at first she was terrified of them.  We figured she didn't realize there was glass seperating those huge floating creatures (that were sometimes bigger than her) from her.  She clung to her Daddy's shirt for dear life.  After the first few exhibits, though, she figured it out and really started to enjoy herself.

Her favorites were the seahorses, and the octopus.  She tried to touch a string ray's wing, but the water was too deep for her little arms to reach, so she just splashed lightly in the water for a bit.

Then we hung out by the penguins and watched them shoot poo into the water... munchkin wasn't impressed. (Sorry, we don't have pics of the aquarium; we forgot out camera.)

We had lunch at Arby, and Munchkin got her first kid's meal-- chicken tenders, applesauce, and juice. I think her favorite was the BBQ sauce. Then we came home and had cake and ice cream. 

Wish our families could have been her to share this special day.  Know that we love you and miss you. 

Oh, and munchkin wanted to give you something...

I'm at it Again!

But this time, I had a running buddy!  Brad joined me in my 2nd ever, his first ever 5K.  He set a personal goal to finish in 40 min or less-- his official time was ***39:57***

Way to go, Brad!  I'm so proud of you!

My time for my first 5K back in November was 59:29.  My goal was to beat that time; and my official time was ***49:30***

Yep, you read that right-- I beat my last time by 9:59!

And it was snowing the whole time.  I pushed Naomi in the stroller while she was bundled up like a human burrito with a bottle.  Munchkin has now been in two 5Ks with me, and she can't even walk yet!  Way to go, Munchkin!

Oh, and on a side note: Brad has lost 19lbs since February.  And I've lost 21lbs.  And our munchkin has finally gained weight-- she's 17lbs even, at the 3rd%ile!  The Neeley house is definitely feeling good right now!