Today I conquered a fear.

I attended a group fitness class at the gym.
(Well, Monday I attended a class but it was a lot like the Tae Bo tape I used in highschool, so I don't fully count that as something new.) 

Today was a more aerobics-like class.  Exactly the type I had been intimidated by for years.
 Fit young women, spandexy outfits, a super-muscular instructor, and an hour-long workout -- just the scene to scare away a busty chubby brunette whose abs are buried under years of chocolate and dust.

But I walked in, neighbor Kelly at my side, and surprisingly walked out an hour later on my own two feet -- not wheeled out on a gurney with cartoon stars and birdies circling over my head.
 
No I didn't get all the moves right, but neither did half the people in there.

I won't be the next Richard Simmons, although I do resemble him more than Jane Fonda right now, but today was a real example of my health benefits from shedding extra weight.

There might be a lot of things I should be afraid of in this world, but a silly aerobics class is no longer one of them. 
Makes me wonder how many other "fears" I have are silly.

Meet Rapunzel

Yes, Rapunzel is a hamster. A "long haired" female hamster, hence her name.
Much more appropriate than "Bumblebee," wouldn't you say?

Being a complete scaredy cat of all things rodent and rodent-like, I was not super-thrilled about the idea of a hamster.
But we wanted a pet for BigBoy.  (NOT BabyCakes.  This girl better run when that deceivingly-adorable brute comes around!)
Just like froggy last year, I had to get over my own stupid fears so as not to scar my children.

I have to say, I love this hamster.  She is a sweetie and very good around squirmy children.

Taking her pic in her ball was hard but I got some video.

The video is around 5 minutes and contains some footage of me (looking ohsoglamorous) talking to BigBoy at the end, so I'd only recommend it for people really interested in some Davis normalcy (aka grandparents) and/or very bored people.
 



Email recipients, you have to jump over to my blog to see it.

WW Wednesday-- um I mean Thursday

(WARNING: Long post ahead.  I even threw some very random pics in there to act as visual rest stops for you.)

Sorry about just now getting this posted, peeps.
I usually do a WW recap during BabyCakes' nap and yesterday something came up.
What, you ask? 

After eating lunch, I was cuddling on the couch with BigBoy for a little American Pickers (I know you're not surprised I like this show) and suddenly there's a knock at the door.

I open it to see BigBoy's friend and his mother, holding a lunch box.
"Here's a lunch for him.  Thanks again for watching him."

Cue Cayce with a deer-in-the-headlights look.



Like seriously.  I couldn't hide it.
I kind of laughed a little and just said "Wow, I have to be honest with you.  I completely forgot!"

I was happy to have her son (he's a great kid and BigBoy loves him) and I told her that, but I was just so surprised that I couldn't hide it. I was shocked that I had forgotten in such a big way.
We planned it a couple weeks ago and somehow that email got archived without the event going on my calendar.

Anyway, I'm just glad the house was clean(ish) and I was wearing a bra.
It all worked out well and the boys had fun, but no WW Wednesday post was written.
Until now...

So, my last WW week included a beach trip which included a big breakfast, BIG fancy dinner, and junk food on the drives.  I didn't track my points but I didn't go completely off the rails for the week either.



All the same, I was really just hoping not to be up this week.
So I wore my lightweight cotton skirt and a t-shirt, slipped off my flip-flops (you know, because flip flops are so heavy), and quickly stepped on the scale.
I waited for the pretty-smiling-freckled-lady to give me a lovingly cheesy thumbs-up, but when she didn't I assumed I had gained this week.
Then the words came...

"You're down." 
Whew.  Okay.   Exhale.
Honestly, it was a 0.2 loss.
Haha.
I know that this journey (barf) is not supposed to be about the number.  Most of the time it isn't.
Swear.  Pinky promise, it's not.
Sometimes you just want to have a loss, though.

Okay, so lessons learned this week:  The weight may not be rolling off but exercise is improving my body.  I bought several size Large (as in no "X", just an "L") shirts for the first time since highschool.

Goal for the week: Cut out the diet sodas.  They aren't doing any good and are holding me back from drinking all my water.

Sandcastles and Surfer Babies

Last weekend we went to the Outer Banks for a little weekend getaway.

J's aunt, uncle, and cousins live in the OBX and we always enjoy our visits with them.

This time Brent's girlfriend Fay (Faye? Doesn't matter because I call her Ivy. Don't you think she looks like an Ivy?) was there and we got to meet her.
She's 7 feet tall (really only 5'9 or 5'10 but compared to me it might as well be 7'0) and plays the fiddle in several bands.
Really cool girl. Like, put a ring on the finger, Brent!

The guys built sand castles with BigBoy while BabyCakes pulled us deeper and deeper into the ocean.
She is annoyed in this pic because she isn't in the water.
For 3 hours she was barely on dry land. NO fear in that girl... she'll be our little surfer baby.

J and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary last week. Saturday night we had a nice dinner alone and then went to a movie.
His family has always been so wonderful about encouraging us to have time alone when we come to visit. When BigBoy was a baby it was the ONLY way we ever had a break.

Can't you tell Aunt Penny hates spending time with the children?

BigBoy and BabyCakes got their hair and eye color from J's side of the family. (Scroll to the top pic again.)

Their fair skin is from me.

But the sweetness is 100% their own.

To my "Little June"

This morning I followed in my tradition of taking photos of BabyCakes in my pearls.  When she turns two I will only do "Little June" photos in yearly increments, but they change so much at this age that I thought 18-month shots would be nice.  (Check out her 6-month and 12-month shots here and here.)


Little girl, keep that head held high.

Your milky skin and golden curls will one day wrinkle and gray.

Life may tire you.

Distractions may pull you off balance.

But you will always be a beautiful child of God.

Even if one day you aren't the strong, healthy, exuberant being you are today,

God will help you stand tall if you hold your head high and look to Him.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."  ~ Isaiah 41:10

WW Wednesday

 Today I'm going to do a little celebrating.  I've lost consciously taken the steps to shed myself of 50 pounds, bay-bay!

Ok, full disclosure.  My starting number was taken at home on a non-digital scale. 
Today at WW I was 49.6 pounds lighter than that not-exactly-scientifically-precise measurement.  But I'm ready, dang-it!
So I'm rounding.  I'm allowing myself to go ahead and celebrate.  Besides, Daddy and Melissa gave me permission.  :)
So yeah, 50 pounds are gone.  That's the weight of 6 or 7 newborns.  So glad I'm not carrying that (the weight -- and the babies) around all day.


I'm going to share with you a few stats from my journey.

First I want to mention that I've lost weight in the past (which I regained) and had "wanting to lose weight" in the back of my mind pretty much for the last 16 years, (scary thought) so this is something that's been on my plate for a long time. 
The difference now is that I'm okay with slow, permanent change.  I'm not rushing to get into a prom dress or 2 piece swimsuit. 
This is it for me.
The change has been slow because I've changed myself inside slowly.  But it's sticking.

It has been 40 weeks since I made the decision to finally do this.
To turn the car around.
To look myself in the mirror, hold my head high, and decide that not just my family but I am worth the effort.
I didn't want any excuses for not living my life.
There is so much I want to do, see, experience.
From traveling to Australia to kissing my grandchildren on their wedding day.
So I decided to turn off the cruise and really start driving.

Since September there have been 8 weeks that I actually gained weight. 
There were also 8 weeks that I lost less than one pound.  Not one pound, less than one pound.
That means that 40% of the times I stepped on the scale, I saw either a gain or a modest loss.

That's why you have to keep going, people!  If we give up over slow or frustrating progress, we will never really finish.
Now, I don't "have it all figured out," nor do I have an iron will (far from it).  I just know that for me, this is the primary principle behind where I am in my weight loss/ eating habit efforts today.

I'm sooo not perfect and glad for it.
I'm very thankful that you have allowed me to share my journey (ick) with you.
Thank you so much!

Fifty pounds down, I'm-not-tellin-how-much to go.  :)

Sweet dreams

The day of BigBoy's party we were quite busy with the final preparations.  After lunch during BabyCakes' nap, I took a quick shower and when I got out, this is what I found in the living room:

It immediately sent me back to this:

It was a good reminder...
for him to be such a BigBoy, he still so little.