Friday, March 16, 2012

And I'm Not Done Yet!

So, I have been busting my butt to get into shape the last 10 weeks. When Berkeley left, I set a goal to lose 15 lbs by the time he got home. Well, I am proud to say that he still has 7 weeks left in Greece and I have already lost 11 lbs. Hopefully it will be easy to lose the last 4 lbs and then maybe some extra. I feel so much better and happier in general. Here are some progress pics. Ugh, I hate looking at the before picture, but it does make me feel great about how far I've come. Ignore my wet, post-shower hair in the second pic.


More progress pics to come as I continue to reach my goals. For those of you who have been asking, I have been doing Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 program. I did once entirely and am halfway through it again. I hope to have done it three times by the time Berk gets home. I have also been calorie counting (1250 per day). I have also been taking a supplement called SlimQuick for women. It has helped a ton to curb my appetite and reduce water weight. Anyway, there you have it!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Deployment, Kids, Deployment, Kids


Based on the title of this blog post, you can see what my life revolves around right now. Berkeley has been on deployment to Greece for 7 weeks now and to say it totally sucks is an understatement. I hate being apart. I miss him like crazy. I miss his companionship and, of course, his HELP! Yikes, taking care of two little ones all day every day is super exhausting. My kids are crazy adorable and I love being a mom to them, but there is something to be said about the blessed hours of 5-8 pm when Daddy gets home and everyone gets a breath of fresh air. I could complain much more, but I think it will be better for my spirit to focus on the positive. We are nearly halfway through with only 8 weeks left. Asa turned 3 years old on the 20th of February. Asa has become a highly imaginitive little boy. He pretends all day long. His current obsession is with dinosaurs. He stomps around the house roaring from sun up to sun down. He is still in love with Tyrone the Mailman (from Backyardigans) and we play that game quite often too. He talks up a storm. He can be super tempermental and rude at times. Sharing has become the most difficult things to cope with in his little world. I am trying to figure out how to handle that. Hazel is happy and beautiful. She has begun to walk just this last week and will take 5-10 steps before falling or opting to crawl. In the last couple weeks, she has also learned to clap and point at things. She loves to eat!! She will eat anything I give her, but she hasn't got any teeth yet, so unfortunately she is still very limited. Last week she has tubes put in her ears, so hopefully we will be ear infection clear from here on out. She is much happier now, more vocal and more independent now that she can hear normally. She and Asa love eachother. They are always so happy to see eachother. They do fight though! I knew they would fight eventually but I had idea that it could start this early! Mostly their "fights" consist of Asa refusing to share or taking a toy from her. This causes Hazel to react with screams or cries. They are sure funny to watch though. I'm doing fine. Just taking life one day at a time right now. I'm trying to stay positive even though, honestly, I'm exhausted. Heaven help those women who have to deal with year long deployments. Shoot me if that ever happens to us. Regardless, I have made diet and exercise a priority, even if it means the kids are crying at me for 45 minutes straight while I get it done! I have been doing Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 program and I have managed to lose about 11lbs. I will be thrilled if I can lose about 8 more. I have started round two of the program this week and hope to do it a 3rd time before Berkeley gets back. We are planning to take a trip to Hawaii together (child-free) within the next 3-5 months, so that is a motivator to get in shape. Otherwise, life is rolling on. I sure hope it rolls quickly down hill for the second half of this deployment. I want my husband home!!