Brinkley Adelynn has hit the 3 month mark!

3 MONTHS

   Brinks, you are growing and changing everyday. I suspect by this fall/winter you will be sharing clothes with your sister!

~ Weight 12# (1 whole pound more that Hadley weighed at 3 months)
~ Weaing size 1 diapers

~ Wearing 0-3 month, 3 month, and some 3-6 month clothes depending on the brand and how many times they have been washed previously.

~ Your feet are huge and  you fit pretty well into size 1 shoes.
~Nicknames: Brink, Brinks, Brinkster, Sis

~ Sleeping about 8 hours a night most nights.....It's fantastic!
~ Starting to hold your head up more and can sit for a few minutes in the Bumbo
~ You love to be held.....ALL THE TIME!

~ You love to sleep on your belly but anytime you are awake you have to be held.
~ You seem to like your paci a little more each day but you definitley don't have the attatchment to it like your sister did.
~ You will probably always be compared to your sister...sorry.
~ You absolutely LOVE bath time. You even put your toes in Uncle Phil and Aunt MeLinda's hot tub and loved it.  

~ You got your ears pierced and you were so brave!
~You are really starting to watch your sister and the puppy more when they are playing and being silly.

~You have really started smiling as well, especially at momma!

~ You got to meet your Grandpa and Gram Struska this month too.

The completion of my 24 day challenge.

I completed my 24 day challenge from Advocare. I did see results but not as much as I had hoped for. I am sure the Advocare product would have helped me more if life hadn't gotten in the way. I realize I need to stop using life as an excuse but it sure is hard to change your ways. Part of one week I was sick and throwing up some and just wasn't feeling well so I did not take the product part of that week because I didn't want to throw it up. Also trying to work around my schedule and my husbands was challenging at times and I wasn't able to always take the pills at the right time. By the end I was struggling to get all of the pills down due to my gag reflex. ha. I also did not work out anywhere close to what I had planned. Again that was "life's" fault. Raising two girls leaves me completely exhausted at the end of the day and the thought of working out rarely crosses my mind. I am however hoping with the nice weather coming this way that I will be able to get out on some walks with the girls.  Anyway, to my results and an update on my journey. I lost 5lbs which seems like such a little number even though I know I should be glad about any amount. I wonder if it was harder to lose more pounds since I have lost 35lbs since March 4 or if it is just going to be a very long journey! Although the scale only says I lost 5lbs the measuring tape was a tad more encouraging. According to the measurements I took at the beginning and end I lost .75inches on each arm (bicep), 6 in around my waist, 2.5 in around my hips, and nothing around my thigh. My thigh measurement actually went up an inch at 2 weeks and back down an inch after 4 weeks. Also here are the before and after pictures from this past month.

The last picture I can find of me before I had Brinkely. Taken 2-23-13.

After/ In Process. 5-13-13

Before. Taken 4-11-13.

5-13-13

4-11-13

5-13-13

4-11-13

My next plan is to keep working at eating healthier and working out, but I also plan to try Plexus and see how it works for me. I do not have it yet so I will start keeping track of my results when I get on it. And next time I take pictures I am going to make sure my hair looks decent. haha Until next time!

Abi

Brinkley Lou is 2 months!

Miss Brink's you are now 2 months old my dear. In a way time seems to be creeping by but of course at other times it flies! I the days momma works and the nights we are home without daddy are what creep by so slowly. Many things have happened this month, lets recap.
~Weigh 10.1# and are 22in long
~Wear size newborn (just onesies), 0-3, and 3-6 month clothes. Seeing you in your sisters hand-me-downs makes you look a lot more like her.
~ Diapers size 1
~ you started smiling! Not often but you do once in awhile
~ started taking bottles when mommy is at work and you do awesome switching back and forth between bottles and nursing.
~ sleep anywhere from 3-7 hours at night. You are very inconsistent. You seem to wake up more on the nights after I work. (I think you miss your momma)
~ You've survived another month of "love" from your big sister! She sure loves to give you kisses even if that means she has to crawl up in the swing with you!
~ you got a puppy names Layla who you only seem to notice when she steps on you or nibbles your toes.
~ you got to add Kansas to your list of places traveled.
~ you love love love bath time.
~ you seem to like your paci more and more but you still aren't super attached like your sister was.
Everyday is a new adventure with two little ones but we wouldn't trade it for the world! We love you Brinkley Adelynn and can't wait to see how much you change and grow this next month.

Brinkley and Layla both 2 months and about the same size.

Layla trying to steal Brink's paci.

The girls taking a bath together.

We are ready for summer!!!

Half Smile

Hadley's plotting smile right before she moved causing Brinkley to fall over.

Me and my girls!

Sippy Cup Madness

 The Good the Bad and the Leaky

As I'm sure most moms do I had to try out several sippy cups before I found one that worked well for us. When I finally found the perfect one, I couldn't find a second one to have as a spare or for Brinkley when she gets to that point. I thought I had looked EVERYWHERE and the only place I could find them was Amazon for $9!!! They are worth $9 but I knew I hadn't paid that much so it seemed a little silly to spend so much. I happened to stop at Babies R Us with a gift card and low and behold they had them!!! They were only $6.99 and I bought the last 2!!! Plus I had a coupon for 20% off! I'm sure you would like to know which cup this is! This cup does not leak, works well and is cute. This is the Nuk Straw Active Cup.

This is a Playtex that does not leak but instead forces the fluid back up the straw. Epic Fail.

This is an Oxo that is super cute and does not leak, until the rubber piece falls out. Which happens every time my daughter drops it.

This is a Playtex that actually works pretty well except the few times the rubber piece falls out. Plus I think it's ugly.

This is a Nuby that leaks.

This is also a Nuby that leaks.

This is a Munchkin that leaks... sounding redundant?

These are both Nuk which we loved and did not leak until my toddler chewed the nipples causing them to leak.

My Weight Loss Journey

The Beginning...

I would like to use my blog as a place to journal my journey through weight loss as well as use it as a motivator. Most people don't want to talk about their weight loss until after it has happened but I plan to put it all out there and use this to help keep me accountable and maybe help someone else out as well. I still plan to continue updating about my family and kids (ha like I blog all the time), but I will at least do monthly updates on Brinkley for the first year. Let me go back a bit and give you a little history about my weight, and like I said I plan to put it all out there and that includes those dreaded numbers.

      I was never heavy growing up, nor was I skinny. I was athletic and in shape through all of high school. I played sports and was active which helped a ton. I graduated high school weighing 150#. I thought at that time that I was fat...ha how I wish I could be that "fat" now. I started college right away and I played softball for my freshman year but quit after that due to the nursing program taking up most of my time. During my 4 years of college I managed to put on about 10#. (You will see a trend with the adding 10# for each life event). This brought me up to 160# when I graduated and got married. I look back at those pictures and still think I looked okay but of course I would have loved to be smaller even then. Well we were married for about a year and half when we started the next phase of life and I got pregnant. At this point I had gained another 10# with marriage bringing me up to 170#. Of course I was allowed to gain some weight with being pregnant and I didn't think I had done too bad compared with some friends who gained 70# when I only gained around 35# bringing me up to 205. Now luckily a lot of that weight came off quickly with just breastfeeding. By June of 2012 (8 months postpartum) I was back down to 180 where I had plateaued leaving me 10# up from what I had been previously. At this time I had really started to work on losing weight again. I started working out, quit drinking pop, and had ordered a product to help me along when I found out I was pregnant again. Because I was pretty sick and incredibly exhausted all of that fell by the wayside. So I ended up gaining only 25# this time bringing me to the same number of 205. I am only one month out from my sweet baby being born and have lost more weight that I did with baby number one. I am currently at 175# and so far have only been breastfeeding to accompany my weight loss. However, I am not happy with that number so I am planning on getting my butt in gear and working my way back down to a healthier number. 

       At this time I have just started working out again (even though I haven't technically been cleared by my doc) but I am taking it easy and working my way into it. Me and my husband are doing Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. My goal is to work out at least 3 times a week for a minimum. I also have a few different products I would like to try. The first product I am going to use is Advocare's 24 day challenge. I bought this program right before I found out I was pregnant and decided to save it until I was able to do the whole thing so I could get the biggest advantage. After I complete that and see how successful it was I would like to try Plexus for a month and then compare my results of the two. I plan to post pictures put would like to wait until I at least see a little bit of difference. 

     I have a ton of support from my husband who is willing to work out with me and keep me ac

countable but I would love to find a few other people that would like to take this journey with me seeing as my husband does not need to or plan to lose any weight.

The last picture of me pregnant.

My current stats: Weight-175#

Clothing Size- Pants 14 Shirts L-XL

                           Goal: 150# Size 8

Brinkley One Month

Sweet Baby Brink, you are one month old! Like I always said with your sister, I can't believe how fast time flies. I think with two babies it goes by twice as fast. You've done a lot and changed so much in this past month. We weren't sure what it would be like to have two little girls but it is the most amazing thing. I couldn't imagine it any other way. A few things about you...
-weigh 8.5#
- wearing newborn clothes
-wear newborn diapers
-you eat about every 2-3 hours and sleep anywhere between 3 and 8 hours at night. It just depends on the night.
- love to cuddle and be held
- went on several trips to Denver to Grandma and Grandpa Byers house.
-went to your first wedding for Brandi Duncan
-went on your first plane ride to Iowa to see the cousins
-spent several nights (a total of 7) under the bili lights for your crazy jaundice
-celebrated your first Easter
-visited the animals at the zoo
-really started looking around, I have a feeling you'll love watching your big sister run around and play until you can join her.
- had your first "injury" being stepped on by your sister. Ha

I know so much more will happen this next month and I can't wait to see how you change and how your personality differs from you sister. We love you sweet baby Brinkster!

Tanning Lights

Brandi's Wedding

Cousin Kate who is 7 weeks older than Brinkley

Mickie's a pro baby holder!

First Plane Ride

Trip to the zoo

First Easter