Toot Toot!

I'm not typically one who toots my own horn, but there's a few accomplishments that I'm pretty happy about that I'd like to share. First of all, I'm finally going to graduate. Yes, it took forever, but life isn't always perfect and rarely does it go according to plan. But despite the setbacks, I did it (here's my website which is always in progress). And with a baby. A very active baby. One who thinks hour long naps are sufficient. One who also thinks that my attention should be fully focused on him at all times. A baby who decided that after getting one tooth, he should go through the hellish process all over again to get another one the two weeks before my final project was due. But also, a baby who I love more than life. Whose smiles, giggles, and babbling melt my heart.

What boggles my mind is that I helped make that. And I'm sorry, but I think he's the cutest thing to ever grace this earth. I'm probably biased, but I think he's a beautiful baby.

On to the other accomplishment that I'm very happy about. When I got home from the hospital after having Will, I weighed about 170 lbs. Granted, there's a lot of extra fluid going on right after giving birth, but that's where I was weight-wise. If you know me (or have read past blog posts) I have a very real fear of being fat since I was pretty chubby growing up. I waited until things had settled down a little more to really being a diet regime and when I started it about 5 weeks ago I weighed about 162 lbs. When I got married I weighed 154, for reference, which is the least I've weighed in my adult life (aside from when Will was trying to kill me during the first trimester). I really wanted to get back there and beyond because there were still parts of my body I wasn't thrilled with even then. (I also told Matt that I didn't want to get pregnant until I got down to at most 150 lbs) At the beginning of the year we bought an elliptical which I have been using diligently. Then, like I mentioned, 5 weeks ago I added diet on to the exercising. And now, I weigh 151 lbs. So, needless to say, the baby weight is gone. Honestly, one of my biggest concerns with having kids was that it would send me into a downward spiral of weight gain and that I would struggle for the rest of my life to just lose the weight I gained with the first baby. But, I'm a little obsessive... and crazy... and anal. And I didn't want to just lay down and die so to speak. Not to mention, all of Matt's sisters are ridiculously hot and thin after having multiple kids (and I get to compare myself to them annually at the Stringham beach week) so that's pretty good motivation. And I know I shouldn't compare myself, but we all do it, am I right? So I've worked hard. And I'm feeling really good about where I've gotten to thus far. Sure, I'm in my work out clothes pretty much all day because once I put Will down for his first nap, I hustle to work out, and by the time I finish he is usually waking up. Then he won't let me leave so I can shower so I wait. But then usually once I put him down for his second nap, I'm going over in my mind everything I need to get done (homework, dinner, housework, etc.) so the shower again takes a backseat. But, hey, there's a season for everything. And presumably, one day I will be able to shower and get ready for the day before 3 in the afternoon.

So, there it is. My horn tooting. Thank you for indulging me (or not, I'm sure most of you just started skimming about 1/3 of the way through--trust me, I get it). And for funsies, here's an Easter picture for you.