Thankful to Today

The greatest thing happened this morning! I was feeding Sydney and watching the Today show. As soon as I turned on the TV, I saw a segment about weightloss after having a baby. Of course, this was a topic that I was very interested in. Sydney is now 7 months old, & I have not lost much weight at all & have been quite frustrated about it. To say that I have been down about my weight is a huge understatement. My mom tried comforting me at the beginning by telling me that it took her 6 months to get the weight off. That thought helped a lot...well, until Sydney turned 6 months and the weight was still there.

The segment talked about how society expects you to get back to your pre-pregancy weight very quickly. They interviewed 3 women about this topic. One woman talked about how she felt she had 12 weeks to get the weight off before returning back to work. I understood that! She said when she did return to work she heard people talking about how she hadn't lost the weight yet! How rude! Another woman said that her doctor commented on the weight at an appointment! She was only 5 lbs over what she "should" be! Ah...it is hard when you listen to society. Since most of us do, including me, I was glad that Today decided to cover this topic.

An "expert" (I didn't get if she was a doctor or just an expert over something) said the greatest thing I could hear! She said that it takes 9 months to gain the weight & have the baby and it will take at least 9 months to get the weight off for most people! HALLELUJAH! I still have time!! :-)

Since I was a very skinny individual most of my life before having Sydney, I expected to be afterwards. Today has given me the confidence that I can again be skinny. Of course, I won't be as skinny as I was in high school...and after looking at some pictures, I don't think I want to be! I do have a weight in mind & have a long way to go to get there, but now I believe it can actually happen.

By the time Sydney turns 1, I want to be close to my goal weight. That gives me 5 months. I realize that I probably won't be exactly where I want to be, but I want to be on my way. I'll keep you posted!

I haven't been blogging because there really hasn't been anything to blog about. We had a GREAT weekend last weekend. Ryan worked his butt off Monday-Thursday & was given Friday off because of it! We had a 4 day weekend. Friday we went to a huge flea market in Louisville. Saturday we spent some time working on our apartment--made progress! Sunday we went to church & I returned a few items at various stores that didn't fit/work while Ryan worked on his paper. Monday we decided to really play and went to the Louisville Zoo. It was H-O-T!!! But we still had a lot of fun..."we" being Ryan and me. Sydney slept through 3/4 of the zoo! She had fun while she was awake though.

While Sydney was awake at the zoo, she ended up making herself an exhibit. I looked up from the all white alligator to see that Sydney had drawn a crowd around her. Trying to figure out what she had done & why everyone was giggling (at this moment I began to feel my stomach creep up into my throat!), I looked down at her face. She was grinning! She had been looking at a family nearby and just grinning & grinning! At one time, she was smiling so big that she shut her eyes. I wish I could have gotten a picture of it. It was cute & embarrassing at the same time! Ah, we very well could possibly have our hands full with her in a few years! I'm just thankful that she's a happy child.

Hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend as much as we did! We actually got to sleep in our own beds on the weekend for a change! (Don't get me wrong, I love being in Paducah! I also love my bed!) ;-)

A Day at the Zoo

Saturday we went with my mom & brother to the Nashville Zoo. We joined a much bigger group walking for CF. It was a perfect day weather-wise--cool in the morning & perfect in the afternoon! We saw so many different animals & had a relaxing time together.

After the Zoo, my dad joined us & we went to Famous Dave's. I had never heard of it before, but it was good! We left there & went downtown for Nashville's City Fest. It was...an experience! Ha! It really was great. They shut down a few of the streets & had a stage set up where several big names performed. The part that made it "an experince" was when one of the first performers started his set. From the second it started it was LOUD. I have never heard anything go from zero to hurting loud that fast before, but he did. Sydney was not happy at all. So, I grabbed her out of the stroller & dashed down an alley to get away from the noise. Once away, she was completely fine again. It was quite funny though. The further you got away from this artist, the better he sounded! All in all, it was a ton of fun. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Update on my back

I went to the doctor today and found out that I sprained my back. How weird?! He said I could have done it many different ways. He said the most common way (not the way it happened with me) he hears of is someone bending over in the shower to pick up something they dropped and sneezing. That to me sounded a little odd. Anyway, I'm not sure how mine happened, but that's the story. He put me on a muscle relaxer and anti-inflamatory and said I should be much better by Monday. Yay!

I am extremely thankful to my WONDERFUL mother-in-law for agreeing to keep my little one today & tomorrow to let me rest. Thank you, Rita! Hopefully by Monday, I will be a new woman! Thanks to all for keeping me in your prayers. Xoxo!

Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day was WONDERFUL! We went to church with my family--including my grandmother and uncle. After church, we went back to my mom's house where my dad and Ryan grilled pork chops and chicken. The lunch was delicious!! We ate out back on the patio where the weather was absolutely perfect. I think it was close to 6 o'clock before we went back inside! Ryan, Sydney, my mom, dad, & I took a walk at dusk around the neighborhood. We ended the day with the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. It was an absolutely perfect day!!

Well...perfect minus my back still hurting. I'm not sure what is wrong with it & am hoping to get into a doctor soon. I've been trying to take it easy, but with a 6 month old it is very difficult. A few of you have asked about it over email, so I thought I would give you an update.

While we were in Paducah, Ryan found out that he is working in Nashville, TN Monday-Wednesday this week. So, Sydney and I decided to stay in Paducah until Ryan heads back to E-town. How fun?! We got to spend the day yesterday with my grandmother. It was such a wonderful day for all of us! Today, we are being lazy and hanging out at my mom's. It looks to be a good day!

Oh! while we were at my grandmother's yesterday Sydney rolled over from her back to her front!! Whoohoo! Before the day was over, she rolled over 4 times! I was so excited for her. She looked at me like, "What is your problem?" When I was telling her good job. Oh well. I'm happy for my baby girl. Maybe she will crawl before she walks! We'll see...

Trip & Back Issues

Sydney and I were given the privilege to travel along with Ryan while he worked in Champaign, IL on Monday and Tuesday. We went to Paducah for the weekend to spend an early Mother's Day with his mom and drop Sam off at my mom's. Sunday afternoon we headed to Champaign. It was a 4 hour trip. Most of the scenery was pretty boring so I dove into my Mary Higgins Clark book (which I finished on this trip!). GOOD BOOK!! I love her! Anyway, back to the subject. We got in around dinner time at the hotel. We ate our dinner & hit the indoor pool. It was so fun to introduce Sydney to a pool. Since my grandparents had a pool & lived 2 doors down from us, most of my childhood memories involve a pool. So, it was nice to start some memories with her.

After our pool fun, we headed back up to the room to get ready for bed. Once we got in bed, my back started really hurting! It was weird because it was all of the sudden. I took as much medicine as the directions said I could taken and it still did not help. At midnight, Ryan went to the store and got me some sleeping pills. Finally, at 3 am I fell asleep!

Yesterday, Wednesday, I went to the doctor because the pain had gotten a little better since Sunday night, but was still there. She did an x-ray and said that I have two vertebrates that are closer together than the rest. She thought that *might* be causing the pain. She prescribed me some medicine to take at night & told me what to take during the day (since I can't be drowsy while taking care of my little one). If it isn't better in a few days she suggested that I find a family doctor (I went to an urgent care place because I couldn't get in quickly as a new patient with any other doctors.) and have an MRI done. There are several things that she said could be wrong--none of them fun! I just pray that this medicine helps & the pain goes away!!

All of that to say, our trip away was a good one, but it was overshadowed by this pain. No fun! At least Sydney and I got a change of scenery & were able to spend some fun time with Ryan. I love that now that I'm a stay-at-home-mom we can pack up and go with him! How cool?! All in all, it was a great trip! Thanks babe for letting us go! Love you!

Sydney feeds herself

Last night, Ryan put Sydney's cereal in front of her and went back into the kitchen to get something to drink for himself. While he was in there, Sydney decided she would just feed herself. I was sitting on the couch and heard an noise & looked over at her. As soon as I saw her I started laughing. Ryan then looked up and shook his head! Just more proof she's mine! It was so cute I let her eat a little more while I took pictures. She couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about. After all, she was just eating.


Here she is looking at Ryan like, "What?! I'm just eating. What's so interesting?" She didn't miss a beat! Just kept on going.

Church

I have heard people say that we shouldn’t pick churches by what we like or don’t like. We don’t like the singing, so we keep “shopping”. We don’t like the sermons, so we keep “shopping”. I guess there is some truth in that, but is it all truth?

As you all know, Ryan and I moved to E-town from Dallas about a month ago. We have only had a couple of weeks to “shop” for churches since we have been here because we have been in Paducah for two of the weekends. I know that we will find a place, but will we find one we like? Is it wrong to hope that we will “like” the place we go? I’m not sure.

I do miss PRCC. Although PRCC had it’s faults, as all churches do, .it did feel like home. On most Sundays (when I wasn’t stressing about the power-point being correct), I could worship! Maybe it was the songs, sermon, or everything together. I don’t know. But while I was there, I could pour my heart out to God. Even though there were hundreds of people around me, there were times when I felt like it was just me and God. I sang directly to him.

Whether or not “shopping” for likes or dislikes is right or wrong, I am looking for a place to worship. I pray that E-town or the surrounding area has a church that knows how to worship God & not be petty in their traditions for traditions sake. Am I saying traditions are wrong? NO! Matter of fact, I tend to like most of the CoC’s traditions. However, if they are traditions for the sake of being traditions & do not allow me to worship, I would rather keep moving.

So, to me I’m not sure it is wrong to “shop”. When people shop for churches, aren’t they really shopping for a place to connect with God? Maybe others aren’t, but I am.