Growing, growing, growing...

I am not sure why I thought Ford was still little?! Today I decided to reorganize all of the clothing he has out grown, hoping to condense it a little more then it is. Plus, there is a stack of all different sizes that just never got packed in their respective boxes.

Oh boy was this a bad idea... Opening up the Newborn tote, I started getting flash backs, of how small he used to be. The preemie sleeper that he wore the first night we had him home is smaller then the onesie he is wearing today [pictured below]. Thinking back on the fact that the preemie sleeper when all the way to his feet, brings tears to my eyes. There is ONE newborn diaper left, I guess I kept it as a keepsake, to remember how small me really was. When we had to fold over the front of it so it was small enough for him to actually wear!

I can think back with each shirt, jacket and pair of pants and tell you something about the day he wore each of them. It is crazy to think that in the last (almost) 17 months, he has done SO much. We have so many memories, in this short amount of time.

He is currently feeding HIMSELF lunch next to me, telling me, "All Du" and giving me the sign for "finished"... I don't remember the specific point in which he has gotten to be so independent and BIG... But he has, as much as it breaks my heart that really, he is no longer a BABY, I know in my heart he always will be MY baby, 6lbs 5oz, taking his first breath laying on my chest...

Operation Feel Good

So I have stonewalled myself at my pre-pregnancy weight for the last 15 months. ENOUGH!

Diet, exercise, lifestyle change, blah blah blah. Everyone has their own way and reason to lose weight.

What is mine?

I want to FELL GOOD!!! So I am calling my weigh loss journey... OPERATION FEEL GOOD!

Every woman loses a bit of herself when she becomes a MOM, we go from taking care of ourselves and those close to us (husband, fiancée, boyfriend, etc.) to taking care of something IN us and then another human (or humans) that are PART OF US... We sacrifice, time, sleep, food, etc for these beings. Would I or any other mother I know have it ANY OTHER WAY, no!!! BUT... We all need to do SOMETHING for ourselves and I am getting fit!

My rules for this weight loss are simple;

1) Goal weight is 30lbs lost BUT when I feel good I will maintain!
2) IF I cannot fit into my vast array of jeans when I hit my "feel good" point. I will THROW THEM OUT! I will not mop around that I can't fit into a pair of PANTS!
3) This is 100% for ME! I want my sexy back, I want to FEEL like a woman again!

I am following Weight Watchers and doing Power 90 and Brazil Butt Lift from Team beach body. I highly recommend the workouts and having some sort of food intake tracker. It makes you think about what you put in your mouth!!! I like that I can track my workouts while tracking food. Plus watching activity points rack up is AMAZING!!

My goal is to be FEELING GOOD by May 15th!! I have already lost 3.5 lbs since the 31st so I think I'm on my way!

Fall to Winter...

Now it is freezing on a regular basis. It was 14 degrees in Sterling this AM, I won't lie, I'm glad we are spending the weekend in Anchorage, it was 29 here.

We will be going to the Reindeer Farm tomorrow morning for their Fall Festival, pumpkins, hay rides, pony rides, etc. excited to spend the day with family. I know Ford loves his cousins and I wish we could spend more time with them.

Fall in Alaska is so short, I feel like it was just starting and now it's turing into winter already :( fall is my favorite time of year. I know Ford's birthday is really in the "Summer" but in Alaska it's more like fall by the beginning of September, Luke and I got married in the fall (yesterday was our 4 year anniversary), I love the colors, maybe that's what I love orange so much! Haha.

I can't wait for the dead of winter so we can go to Arizona! Even if it's 60 there it will be AMAZING!

Family time

Although our weekend was crazy we got to spend a lot of time together as a family which was incredibly nice. Luke spent the last week of September and first part of October helping his grandparents pack up their home in Oregon and move it Anchorage. I can't imagine how bittersweet it is for them, they have lived in the house in OR since Tim and Dan were fairly young. But I know that they are enjoying the fact they will get to see everyone on a regular basis and watch the great grand kids grow.

I couldn't help but think about how gas time really goes, it seems like yesterday I found out I was pregnant and Noah was born, that was almost 2 years ago!! Now the "babies" are running around after each other, playing and just being normal crazy toddlers.

So hard to believe that this holiday season will be Ford's SECOND one. He has totally become his own person, with his own unique personality. He is such a little ham.

I can't wait until next month when we get to go down to Washington and spend time with everyone. Thanksgiving will be fun but I'm most definitely looking forward to Carl and Silvia getting married then Mark and Anna's wedding! It will be a busy trip, we have family pictures scheduled and so many people to spend time with as well. The great thing is that most of our "friends" down there we consider family so it will be one great trip, being able to see everyone we care about.

Ford can't wait to see his girl friend, Kenzie! Hopefully we will be able to make it more then once next year!

All in All, I think this winter is going to be full of family time which makes me quite excited.

Family time

Although our weekend was crazy we got to spend a lot of time together as a family which was incredibly nice. Luke spent the last week of September and first part of October helping his grandparents pack up their home in Oregon and move it Anchorage. I can't imagine how bittersweet it is for them, they have lived in the house in OR since Tim and Dan were fairly young. But I know that they are enjoying the fact they will get to see everyone on a regular basis and watch the great grand kids grow.

I couldn't help but think about how gas time really goes, it seems like yesterday I found out I was pregnant and Noah was born, that was almost 2 years ago!! Now the "babies" are running around after each other, playing and just being normal crazy toddlers.

So hard to believe that this holiday season will be Ford's SECOND one. He has totally become his own person, with his own unique personality. He is such a little ham.

I can't wait until next month when we get to go down to Washington and spend time with everyone. Thanksgiving will be fun but I'm most definitely looking forward to Carl and Silvia getting married then Mark and Anna's wedding! It will be a busy trip, we have family pictures scheduled and so many people to spend time with as well. The great thing is that most of our "friends" down there we consider family so it will be one great trip, being able to see everyone we care about.

Ford can't wait to see his girl friend, Kenzie! Hopefully we will be able to make it more then once next year!

All in All, I think this winter is going to be full of family time which makes me quite excited.

Oh so, Bittersweet, Celebration...

For a whole year Ford has blessed us each day with his extreme, wonderful, amazing little personality and I couldn't have asked for anything more.

After such a tedious pregnancy, not knowing what exactly was going to happen, God blessed me with a quick delivery and has continued to bless me each day, letting me awaken to a wonderful, perfect creation of his each day.

Ford has done so much growing in the last year, it's hard to believe its only been ONE year. He says lots of words, mostly DADADADADADAD... He walks, tries to run, climbs everything, has 12 teeth. He has been to Washington, Oregon, Arizona and of course, all over South Central Alaska. He has been camping, four wheeling, snow machining, hiking and boating. He loves fishing, steering ANYTHING, playing with excavators, forklifts, tractors... Dancing, he LOVES to dance !

All in all it has been a crazy year. I wouldn't trade it for anything, although I might sell him for the right price (JUST KIDDING!!!).

From day one to one year!

I promise....

In the next year I WILL get weekly blogs done!!!! Building a house, not trying to miss a single moment of Ford growing and with it being SUMMER IN ALASKA, I don't remember the last time I could breath....

Milestones have come and gone, from lifting his head (okay he did that right after he was born!) to first words (DA-DA) to WALKING, he's done it all. We will be marking his FIRST BIRTHDAY off the calendar in 8 days! He will have lots of teeth (the count is at 11 and I think might be at 12 by then!), he is saying when he wants to, dada, dog, Elbe, papa, look, okay, hi and although he can say ALL of those, MAMA will not come out of his cute mouth! Dives me crazy, but I know it will be worth it when he finally does say it!

He does this really weird "rrrrrrrrr" -- rolling of his tongue, mostly when he is angry, but has been doing it more when he is happy, it makes me laugh every time because I have never seen a baby do it before.

He LOVES and I do mean LOVES, to dance, he has started "singing" with the music too, which melts me heart, he has gotten SO big in the last (almost) year it is just amazing to me! I know every mother says, "my baby is SO cute, smart, amazing," pick yours word... But it's true, babies are cute, smart, amazing, etc etc. they mature and grow so much in such a short amount of time. They go from being reliant on you for EVERYTHING to being little PEOPLE, Ford is currently playing BY HIMSELF, pushing his Hot Wheels Car down his little Farris Wheel toy, learning to do that by watching Luke and I put the wheebles down it, now he thinks ANYTHING that rolls can go on it! -- boys and their toys!

I can't wait to put pictures up of his birthday present, but that will Jane to wait until next weekend :)

Until then, here is a current picture of Ford!