An Early Resolution

I know, I know. We're not supposed to start resolutions until the end of the year. But I just can't wait!

I've decided to start the most dreadful task of the new year early - losing weight.

My goal for this year was to be at the same weight by J's birthday (Tuesday!) as I was before I had him. I reached that goal and I'm proud that I did it (although I think I had a lot of help from the breastfeeding!) Unfortunately, that weight is still too high. I'm still (by the oh-so-non-biased BMI standard) overweight.

So my new goal, is get to a healthy BMI by his second birthday. I think my goal weight is 150 lbs. This will still have me on the higher side of the "healthy/average" category, but it gives me a little wiggle room before reaching the threshold again.

This works out to about 3 lbs a month. I think that is so doable!

I've decided to use sparkpeople.com as my tracking device. I'm taking meal ideas from them, tracking my calories, my exercise, my weight, and my measurements.

I'm going to have monthly mini-goals as well. One will be eating related, one will be fitness related and one will be happy, healthy living related. My goals for this month:
 - Fitness - 10 min of aerobic exercise a day
 - Nutrition - 8 glasses of water a day
 - Happy, healthy living - journal at least 3 times a week (to help with the stress)

One of my biggest struggles is finding a way to deal with stress in a HEALTHY manner. I'm just not good at it! I need to work that out - and I'm hoping that by maintaining a journal, I will be taking the first step towards this.

Wish me luck! My resolve on dealing with stress in a healthy manner is likely to be severely tested this week, as I've entered into a more stressful role in my job and my other teammate will be out with a family emergency. I'm going to do my best to remain as calm and optimistic as possible, while still facing the challenge of meeting my duties. It's going to be a rough week, but very few things worth doing are easy.

I'm excited to be doing this! I hope to find my way to good health soon!

xx

s

Still Alive

Yeah, I guess I'm not the best blogger out there.

True that.

But that's okay, with me at least.

So a few things:

Tonight I'm feeling a little down. Kind of lonely and sad. I'm not sure why, but it's totally lame.

J is sick. Someone from the daycare brought their kid in when they knew he was sick. Also, totally lame.

BUT he's been really healthy so far and we've been so lucky. He's super healthy and developing not just well, but very well. He's been walking since 9 months and is jabbering away these days. It's enough to make a mommy proud:

I can't get enough of the guy!

But enough about boring mommy things. I've also been thinking about myself. Remember that crazy bucket list I've talked about? Well, I've been focused on this whole running a half marathon thing... and I think I'm going to try to get my butt in gear! I'm almost to the end of J's first year, which means I'll be taking him of the bottle and I'll be able to quit pumping in my spare time! I'm so excited about this. While I think I made the best choice for both of us, it's been quite a time consuming thing! I'll be glad to store it all away and stick to cups! It kind of feels like I'll be getting part of my life back soon. And with that, I want to start doing something for myself. What better than exercise? And if I have a goal in mind, it should make it easier.

So, the goal is to get in good enough shape to run a half marathon! I'll start this 'training' in December. If I can run even a 5 or 10 k be the end of next year, I'll feel awesome about it! I think I'll start out by some simply light jogging (I'd prefer to start out with biking, but I don't have a bike - I know, sad times) and alternate with a little bit of weight training. That will help me get strong at the same time and break up the monotony of running all of the time. It would be a good change.

As for my short term get healthier goal, I need to ditch the addictive white powder in my life - SUGAR. I didn't used to be THIS addicted. (I think it happened when I was pregnant!). I haven't been gaining weight with my sugar intake this year because I've been nursing, but that's coming to an end so I need to get on the stick and get some control over this. I can't believe how much sugar I flipping eat these days.

I'm not sure what the best approach is for any of these goals, but right now I'm just glad to be making goals. The past year has been so crazy and wonderful, but in some ways I feel like I took a year off of being *me* - of taking care of myself. As J gains his independence, I need to take mine back too. He benefits from having a strong independent woman for a mother - one who sets good examples.

I'm feeling pretty good about this.

xx

s

Healthy living

My posting have been sparse, to say the least.

But what can I say? I'm a busy girl.

What's on my mind lately, is getting healthy. And I don't mean getting skinny (though, losing weight is something I need to do).

Being healthy is more than being thinner. It means eating fruits and veggies to protect against cancer. It means exercise to strengthen my heart. It means sun screen to protect my skin. It means plenty of water to keep my hydrated. It means letting go of food with little or no nutritional value - even if they are low in calories. It means flossing. It means getting more sleep and finding ways to reduce my stress. It means surrounding myself with positive people in my life - and staying away from those who would bring undue stress and drama.

So that's where I am at today. I'm trying to make healthy a state of being.

Also...

All the Borders in Omaha are closing. I would be sad, but they were so totally overpriced.

J is growing hair. And get this - it's blonde and curly. He may pick up some of his daddy's looks yet.

Also, the news is giving me depression. Between Norway and the debt ceiling, I think me and the news may have to take a break. I'm not saying it's over, I just need some time.

The Morehead family could use your help. Donate $75 this week and possibly win a computer: http://www.giveforward.com/suddenstop

xx

s

Another day....

Another ADORABLE picture of J.

That's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen in a swing.

I'm pretty sure I'm living the good life.

xx

s

Update

I know, I've been slacking.

Life is so busy these days!

This weekend was really awesome. A's parent's are in town. On Friday we went to Shakespeare on the Green. It was really neat. We didn't come early enough to get good seats, so it was difficult to hear. We'll have to go earlier next year.

Today was a crazy busy day. We took J swimming again. He had such a good time. It must have worn him out because he fell asleep in my arms in the pool. It was really cute. Then we went to the park and J went on a swing for the first time. He just kept laughing. It was amazing.

Days like these are the days that I feel so incredibly lucky for all of the wonderful things in my life. It's pretty incredible! A is such a great husband and father. And J is just a joy. He's happy and healthy. I don't think I could ask for much more.

Things are good. Really, really good.

xx

s

The World Needs More Saturdays

Look at this picture of J on Saturday:

He's having a good time at the Hemophilia Association's annual disc golf tournament.

We took a stroll around the park and hung out There was actually a box car tournament going on as well. It was a pretty good time - and it was for a good cause.

This is one of the things that I love about Omaha. There is always something going on that is worth checking out.

The big event this week, of course, is the college world series. We managed to score some free tickets to the event and had a good time there as well.

Omaha is a pretty cool city. Definitely worth checking out.

And for more information on Hemophilia, check out the National Hemophilia Association's website: www.hemophilia.org - we were participating in the Heartland Hemophilia Association's event: http://www.heartlandhemophilia.com/

xx

s

Chompsky Update

He's up for adoption now: http://www.petharbor.com/pet.asp?uaid=NEHS.A687038

This has been so hard!

I really want to go get him and bring him HOME. I know what we did was the right thing, but I sure miss him already.

:(

xx

s

J goes swimming

AT got the afternoon off today, which was unexpected. So we did what any good parents would do. We took J swimming for the first time:

I think he's a natural! 

xx

s

Smart Phone

I actually considered getting a smart phone today.

But it turns out it cost money, so I'm out.

I must be the last twenty-something in the world without a smart phone.

Is that a bad thing?

Nahh

xx

s

Bucket List

The bucket list has become quite popular these days, and for good reason. Goals are awesome and it's fun to think about all the cool things that you want to do.

So, I decided to be trendy and make one too. I'll post something from it every now and then.

To run a half marathon.

I know, it's not as awesome as running an freaking marathon, but don't think I could possibly devote enough time or energy to do that. So I picked something a little more realistic.

I've tried to look up how to train for one of these shindigs... but I can't even figure that out.

But someday I will. :)

xx

s

Chompsky...

It didn't seem right to talk about a daily happening in the "launch" post of my blog. So I'm writing a new one. The cute puppy you see here is Chompsky.

I have to tell you the truth... I love this dog. He's two years old now, and he's lived with us since he was 8 weeks old. I got him when I graduated from college. It was a present to myself. It wasn't the smartest idea, really. We weren't ready for a dog. A few short weeks after getting Chompsky, we packed our bags and moved from small town, Kansas to Omaha. It wasn't the best thing for a new puppy.

But we love him. He's our boy. (By us, I mean me and my husband AT).

Today was a really, really hard day for us. Today, we gave Chompsky up for adoption at the Humane Society.

It was not what I wanted to do.

We have a 6 month old son, J. He recently became mobile. He now crawls and pulls himself up on things. There is no stopping him. Unfortunately, it turns out that Chompsky is terrible with babies.

At first he just tried to avoid J., but this past weekend he snapped at him. Several times.

He had to go.

It was a very, very painful decision. One that I still feel regret about. I know it was the right thing to do, but it feels awful to leave your boy in the hand of strangers. There's no guarantees on this one. I'll never know what happened to him. I hope he finds a good home.

We tried to get family to take him, but it was a no-go.

I've been crying all night over this. I hate that it came to this.

I guess this is the first really painful sacrifice that I've had to make for J. He's totally worth it, but it still hurts.

xx

s

Launch

I guess this is the "launch" of my blog.

I'm not sure what the goal of this thing at this time.

So what do I plan to talk about?

I don't know.

Life things... like family. or crazy things I see on the news.

We'll see how it all goes.

I need a place to be me, so I'm hoping this is it.

The question is why I've decided it has to be public.

Hmmm.

xx

s