10 months!

We are on our way to feeling back to normal! We have had a ROUGH winter! After all the mess with the ear aches and tubes... Hunter got a nasty flu bug the day Jared and I left for Spring retreat. He started showing symptoms Friday about 4 and finally... THURSDAY he is feeling himself again with just a little bit of diarrhea still. The bad news is Jared started feeling sick Wednesday morning... I just hope it doesnt take him a whole week to recover like it did Hunter boy! This was a rough virus he had! I took off work Monday to stay with him and went ahead and went to the doctor for myself because I had a sinus infection! The doctor gave us some diaper rash cream for Hunter and we were on our way. I'm telling you... rough rough rough winter! Doctor says its because Hunter has been on so many antibiotics for his ears that he basically had no immune system left and I, being a teacher, brought home every sickness out there. A friend told me about these little packets called culterelle probiotics that seemed to help him get over it. You can buy them at a pharmacy if you ask for them. They are little individual packets of a powder that helps upset stomach and it also helps re-build the colon with good biotics! So, after a day or 2 of these in him he was finally feeling better!

I am loving this 10 month stage, but not the attitude that came with it! Little mister is getting his own tude these days. If he wants to walk (you hold his hands) and you don't let him he will scream. This isn't a little baby scream its a pretty loud toddler like scream! Not havin it! He has already had a few smacks on the hand! He has started this fake cry thing when he doesnt get his way too. It's not a real cry with tears... its a scream cry.... not a fan!

At 10 months Hunter is: 23.8 pounds and still 29 inches
-wearing size 4 diapers still
-wearing size 12 month pants and 18 month shirts mostly
-wearing size 3 shoe
-has been pulling up since right after 9 months...
-was found standing in bed!
-no longer likes to walk with one hand... he is getting scared and has to have 2 now
-still not too close on walking (can't stand on his own yet)
-walks on his tippy toes- uhh! He even stands tippy toed in his walker and exersaucer!
-whispers... its so funny he will crawl around the house whispering. I'm not sure where he got this!
-doesn't seem to say dada as much as he used to because he's too busy whispering, haha
-will still eat stage 3 baby food (the ones with chunky stuff like pasta) but prefers whatever we are eating
-can drink out of a big boy sippy cup with no handles!
-has 5 teeth! 3 top are slowly coming down and he has 2 bottom
-needs a hair cut! He has such fluffy hair and it is getting so long! I will probably schedule his first hair cut soon if I can't talk Kay into cutting it some day! (I'm a firm believer in if they need it cut, it gets cut... there is none of this "wait till his first birthday" attitude from this momma. I've seen too many baby boys with long nasty hair, haha- sorry!) I already look back at his 3 month pictures when he had patchy hair for a few weeks and wonder why I didn't just shave it! *** next kid!
-used to drink water just fine out of his sippy but he's getting a little spoiled and thinks he has to have juice now. I really didn't want him having any juice if it wasn't necessary... so we'll see if we can get him back to water soon.
-He isn't our little chubs anymore! As he gets older he is seeming slimmer and slimmer! I don't like this because he seems like such a little boy... I can't believe only 2 more months until his birthday! We love you little man!

This face describes how he felt.. miserable!

I actually got him to smile even though he had a yucky flu bug!

Mom, I'd rather stand and eat this bear anyday!

All of his top teeth coming in at once!

Getting into everything as he pulls up on stuff!

10 month teeth

Holy cow are we gettin some teeth! Hunter had just 2 bottom teeth as of last weekend. When I took him to the doctor on Thursday she said his top 6 teeth looked like they were all coming at once, poor kid!
As of Sunday this week he had one of his top middle teeth break through. As of yesterday morning I saw another one on the top, not his other middle one, look like it was about to break through. When I got home from work yesterday I felt and it had just popped! I figured his teeth has been what's waking him at night. He has been sleeping fine but he will cry out once usually around 1 or 2 and he falls back asleep on his own... so I know its not his ears and somthing of less pain, like his teeth!

I can't wait for him to get all his teeth in but I know he will look like such a little boy! He's almost 10 months old already!!

Easter in Georgia

We celebrated Easter in Georgia this year! Hunter and I were the only ones that went because Jared didn't have off work, so he stayed home. Jen and her boys, Kate, my mom, and Hunter and I left on Thursday at 5:30 p.m and after a very long night of riding in the car with 3 kids under 3... we finally made it to my grandparents house at 4:00 in the morning! We quickly tried to get in the house, settle down in bed, and fall asleep before the kids would be up for the day. Hunter was up at 5:30... uhh!! So, needless to say we were all very tired on Friday! It was a great visit though! So good to see all my family down there that we don't get to see very often. The little kids got to color Easter eggs and have a hunt as well as help grandma ice some cupcakes! We had lots of bonding time with great grandma and grandpa Weeks! We got to go shopping without the kiddos on Saturday, check out their church on Sunday, have a great Easter dinner with all my cousins and aunts and uncles, and even played some hilarious games with eggs! It was a lot of fun! We shared many laughs together! It will probably be a year or two before we have a chance to get down there again, so I'm really glad we got to go.

Hunter has been a little terror since we've been back though! He is usually the happiest kid just playing by himself! I think somebody got a little spoiled while we were there! He got so much attention and had very little floor time that he wants nothing to do with it now that we are home! I am hoping to break this of him very soon so I can get my content baby back! He was constantly running around in the walker with the other kids chasing him, or being held or played with by many family members whom he had never even met yet. So, you can imagine the attention he got! We will be working on this! Tonight at dinner he was yelling at me and I told him he wasn't too young for a little smack on the hand, haha. We are going to be sticklers on disciplining him when needed! I know that the fun years of toddler fits are coming and I'm just not sure I'm ready!

Biggest Loser

In January I started going to our local free fitness club on Monday nights. I hadn't been there very long and they advertised they were starting a biggest loser competition. It was 30 bucks to enter. I really had to force myself to enter because I knew if I paid the 30 bucks I would most likely stick to it. I knew it wouldnt be easy, but since I was already training for my half marathon, I figured what the heck... might as well!

So, I went the first not and got weighed and measured. Measurements don't lie... let me tell you! After 4 weeks of eating 1200 calories a day and working out 5 days a week, I had lost nearly 20 inches from my body! This was good motivation that it was working! I had no idea if I was losing a good amount of weight compared to others or not, but I kept going. It got harder the longer I was in it.. I started to crave sweets! I got discouraged one week when I only lost .2 pounds... thats point two, not 2! So I let my cravings get the best of me. I bought some junk food, ate it.. and then felt terrible, haha. All that hard work for nothing?! So, I then busted my butt and ended up still losing 2 pounds for that week! So, it went to show me that one or two mess ups isn't going to make me fat... just like one or two healthy meals isn't going to make me skinny. For me, its all about portion sizes. If I'm going to eat what I cooked for my family for dinner... that's fine as long as I don't get double portions. I continued to use my fitness pal (an awesome app) on my phone to track calories for each day. Towards the last week, I got to the point where I didn't need to use the app anymore.. I just kind of tried to keep my breakfasts to 200-300, my lunch to about 400-500 and save the rest for supper which is always the most calories for us!

The final week came and I was feeling good! I made sure to wear some shorts for my weigh in despite the snow on the ground and 30 degree weather... I didn't want those yoga pants weighin me down ;)
Drum roll please.... I WON!! I was the winner and won $200!
I lost a total of 14.6 pounds and a total of 26 inches! The inches broke down to this:
Chest 38.25 to a 34
Waist 36.5 to a 29 (YAY!)
Hips 43.5 to a 38
R Arm 11.75 to 10.5
L Arm 11.75 to 10
L Thigh 24 to 20.5
R Thigh 23 to 19.75

I can really tell that my pants are looser as well as my belly fat is disappearing... I didn't say it was gone by any means! I still have a lot of work to do! I would like to lose another 15 by summer!

I recently ordered Shakeology chocolate meal replacement shakes. I just ordered a one month supply to try it out. I have heard good things about it and seen some amazing results of the shakes plus workouts from beachbody. My workouts were a combination of beachbody's Hit 15, Hit 20, Low Hit 25, Low Hit 30 and most commonly Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. That was my cross training days for my marathon training. The other 3 days a week I ran. My running was usually 30 minutes on the treadmill twice a week and then one time a week I did a long run outside. My long runs are getting longer! I did 6 on Saturday... my personal best!

I have realized through this whole thing that eating what you want while working out does not work. You have to make a lifestyle change... eat healthy AND workout! 30 minutes a day can make a big difference as you can see from my results!
Some things I ate were: fruit for breakfast... or a greek yogurt
A snack of a cutie, or a banana mid morning
Lunch: lean meat like tuna or turkey sandwhich on 45 calorie bread, or a wrap with lettuce, avacado, tomatoes, and grilled chicken, along with a greek yogurt or cottage cheese usually.. another favorite was an apple chopped with a half cup of granola and a container of flavored greek yogurt... yum!
Dinners varied but I tried to stay under 600 calories for dinner.
 I have also been drinking 64 oz of water a day!

Tubes

Monday was rough. Not because Hunter didn't do well, but because I didn't get to stay with Hunter during his surgery. I had decided since I've missed so many days this year I would be okay with letting Jared take Hunter to the hospital for his surgery... Mistake. I cried all day Sunday because I was upset I had to work and couldn't be with my baby! Then my sister planned a freezer meal planning day and some of my friends were going and discussing it and I knew I couldn't attend that either :( so, it was just a sucky day!!

I actually thought I might be able to make it to the surgery because we had to be there (Sara bush) at 6am. So I thought I'd drive separate and since the surgery was only going to take a few minutes I thought I'd stay and then go to work when he was done. Well... We got there at 5:50 and sat around till I finally had to leave at 7:15 and they hadn't taken him yet :( I cried once again... He was getting very tired and hungry! Poor guy hadn't eaten and had to sit around forever.  He was a cranky mess when I left! And reaching for me as I walked away didn't make me feel any better.
Apparently right when I left they took him back though. It lasted about 15 minutes and Jared said he came back a very cranky dude. Doctor told Jared that hunter had lots of gunk behind his right ear and that it may bleed a little more.
Since we've been home he slept the first night and was up at his normal time in the morn... Darn! I thought maybe he would start sleeping in! I guess I shouldn't complain about 7:00 am. The next night he cried out at midnight for just a few minutes. He may have been cold though cause I covered him and pat his butt and he was back asleep till the morning. He seems to be doing well and I haven't seen him tugging on his ears which is good! He also seems to be jabbering and blabbing more... Saying bahhhhh a lot. Not sure if that means bah-bah or what?? It's cute :)  so glad my little guy got some relief! Hoping for no more sets!

Spring Fever

I am so excited for warmer weather! I was much anticipating a 60 degree sunny Saturday. It did finally get up to about 55 but it wasn't very sunny until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I really wanted to bring Hunter out to the trek trail and do some walking or running. However, it was windy and didn't quite feel warm enough yet.

Sunday (today) was warmer and we got to get outside a little bit. Hunter and his cousins rode the gator for a bit while we were at dad's for lunch! I seriously can't wait until Hunter can run around with those boys! He will have so much fun! I can't wait for summer time at papa's in the pool every chance we can get! Love my big boy! We can't wait to go on walks and hang out everyday! 11 more weeks of school!!!! It can't come soon enough!

9 months!

I've been slacking on the blog lately! I guess that's what happens when you're a full time workin mom who's trying to find time for all sorts of people and activities every week!
We are loving this 9 month stage Hunters in. He is such a fast crawler you can't take your eyes off of him! At 9 months Hunter is:
- eating less (this could be caused by the constant chronic ear infections) the doctor told me its amazing how happy he is considering the pain he's in... Poor babe!
- has been on antibiotics for 3 months straight for a never ending ear infection that even a shot didn't cure!
-is FINALLY getting tubes!!!!!!! Yay!!!! It's money well spent! Dr said hunter failed his hearing test... So that's our main concern. He's hearing at 35-40 decibels which people normally talk at 40-45 so he said basically Hunters hearing is muffled like he's underwater... :(
-sleeping off and on through the night because of pain if he wakes up we are supposed to give him tylonol and ib profin. So he gets that quit frequently.
- we are starting to wean down to 3 bottles a day per dr... She said within the next month or 2 but he's pretty well doing it on his own already... Sometimes skipping his supper bottle (5pm)
- wearing 12-18 months
-size 4 diapers
- 22 lbs 15 oz and 29" long
- taking 2 naps a day still usually about 1.5-2.5 hours each
- sleeping from about 7:30-6:30 at night
-loves Mickey, doc mcstuffins, and chugington
- waves bye and claps all hours of the day haha
-goes to anyone! No stranger anxiety! Friendliest kid ever!
-antsy, nosy and in to everything!!
- pretty well done with the jumperoo and exersaucer
-standing on his own for a few seconds when he doesn't lean into mom and dad right away
-stands against toys and walks with his toy walker with little assistance
- favorite word is dada for sure... Says it all day long
Happiest little boy I've met! Cutest too :) haha love you Hunter Wayne!