Before/Mid-way Through Pic

I have been working on losing weight since the babies were about 4 months old.  I started off by just going to Weight Watchers, and then I started working out not long after that.  I gained 60 lbs. while I was pregnant, and lost 30 of it right after the babies were born.  Since I have started Weight Watchers and working out, I have lost 17 more pounds.  I thought I 'd celebrate this loss by posting a Before and Midway through my weight loss picture.   

The twins were 3 weeks in this picture.  It's not the greatest pic because I have a coat on, but believe me that coat was well-fitted. 

BEFORE

Below is my Midway through pic.  I think you can see the difference the most in my face.  Now I only need to lose 13 more lbs. to get to pre-baby weight.  Then I'll set my goal weight with Weight Watchers.  Look for my pic in April to see if I lose all the baby weight before the babies 1st birthday.

MIDWAY

Resolutions & Winter To Do List.

Ringing in the New Year made me come up with just a few resolutions.  I actually think they are do-able.

1.)  Go on a hike at least once a month with Ryan, Owen, Lindy, & Marlee.
2.)  Get more organized.

Now for the hard stuff.  Here is my To Do list for the winter.  Actually, I want to get this all done before Owen & Lindy's first birthday, so I get till April 5th.  This gives me a little extra time.

1.) Finish Owen & Lindy's 12 month frames to give to them for their birthday.
2.) Finish Owen & Lindy's baby books to give to them for their birthday.
3.) Pass the Middle Level Social Sciences ORELA.  (This test will give me some job security, as I'll be able to teach Middle School Social Studies if my position gets cut.)
4.) Finish decorating Ryan's office.  (We are very close to being done with this.)
5.) Finish our Wedding Book on Shutterfly.
6.) Get to pre-baby weight.  Then I can figure out what my goal weight is going to be with Weight Watchers.

Okay, I'll re-visit this in April, & I'll keep you updated on my resolutions as the year progresses.

9 month stats

Owen & Lindy are 9 months old!  Can you believe it?  The time has flown by, but I am really enjoying this age.  For the most part they are both happy & healthy babies.  I'll take this age over newborns anytime!!

 At Owen's 9 month appointment we learned that he is 17# 15oz, and is 28 in. long.  This puts him in the 10th percentile for weight, and the 37th percentile for height.  He can crawl like nobody's business, and will be pulling himself up on things very soon.  You can tell he is an observer of most things.  He wants to know how things work, and is a very inquisitive little boy.  I love watching him stare at a new object and really try to figure out how it works.

At Lindy's 9 month appointment, we found out she weighs 18# 10.5oz, and is 28.5 in. long.  This puts her in the 44th percentile for weight and the 78th percentile for height.  She is not crawling yet, but will be there any day now.  She is an independent girl who knows what she wants.  She loves to play with new things and jumps right into almost all situations without hesitation.  I really enjoy her adventurous and independent spirit, but am a little concerned about how this will translate into her teenage years.  :)

We had a busy, busy holiday season.  Here is a quick recap of everything that happened. 

 

 Owen and Lindy got to go and cut down their first Christmas Tree.  We've been very lucky this winter and have had wonderful weather.  That day was perfect, and we got ourselves a beautiful tree.

Amy and I received our Master's in Education.  Amy received her's with a Reading endorsement, and I received mine with a Methods and Curriculum endorsement.  It's pretty cool to be have a Master's and be done with that task.  Now onto the next one.  

 We celebrated Christmas Eve with Amy and her boyfriend (at the time, now Fiance!).

 We flew to Iowa to celebrate late Christmas and the New Year with Grandma & Grandpa Bradstreet!

 The babies received some great homemade gifts from Grandma, Grandpa and even Great Grandma.  In this picture you can see the cool caterpillar that Grandpa made for them.

 Owen and Lindy got to meet Great Grandma Bradstreet.  Great Grandma really enjoyed meeting the twins, and they had a fun time with her.  Especially Lindy, she seemed to form a special bond with Great Grandma on this trip.

 Here's a nice generational picture.  Four generations of Bradstreet's.

Here's the whole gang.  We clean up pretty nice.

 

And where was Marlee during our trip to Iowa?  She got to stay with Aunt Amy and Uncle Cross.  She even got to go on a trip to the beach with them.  On this trip, Amy and Cross got engaged.  Hooray for them!!

It was a busy holiday season, and I finally feel like things are winding down and getting back to normal!  We are very excited for the new year.  We have a lot of fun adventures planned, and we'll see what unexpected adventures pop up along the way. 

My First 5k

Well, I did it!  Last weekend I ran my first 5k.  I did it in 39 minutes and 19 seconds, which means I was running about a 13 minute mile.  Ryan got some pics of me running.  They're not the greatest pictures because I was running so fast that I was hard to catch. 

The first picture is of me starting the race.  As you can see it was a Halloween themed race.  There were a lot of people dressed up like zombies.  I didn't dress up because I was really concentrated on finishing the race.  I am to the right of this picture dressed in a pink shirt, black pants and blue hat.

This is my only close up picture.  My head is chopped off, but you can see my awesome running form. 

This is me at the very end of the 5k.  I was almost crying because I was so excited to be done and so proud of myself.

So now I think I'm hooked.  I've got a race planned for every month up until May.  I plan to run an 8k (about 5 miles) at the end of April.  We'll see how it goes.

Things People Say

As many of you know, once you have a baby, everyone wants to give you a little bit of advice (even if you don't want it), or they just want to check out your new bundle of joy.  I believe this is at least doubled when you have twins.  Here are some of the most frequent comments I get and some of the most bizarre. 

"Here comes Double Trouble!"  When people say this I want to reply with, "Actually my kids are very good." or "Really?  You think you're the first person to come up with that one?"  I usually just smile and nod though.

"Are they twins?"  This is usually what people say when they want to check out your babies and they don't know how to open.  Once again, I usually just smile and nod when people say this, but I want to say, "No, they are actually 3 years apart," and just keep walking.

"Oh my, you must have your hands full."  I usually don't even acknowledge the person who says this.  This comment just really irritates me for some reason.

"Are they identical?"  I just politely tell them that boy/girl twins can't be identical.  What I really want to say is, "No.  One has a penis and the other has a vagina."

"Have you seen that video on Youtube with the twins that seem like they're talking to each other?"  What I want to say to these people is, "Who hasn't seen that video?  and They are talking to each other you moron.  They're just babies so they don't have a huge vocabulary yet." 

Okay, now for the most bizarre.

"Are you on WIC?"  I walked away from this person and let my husband handle it.   The twins were still really young and I thought I was going to smack the lady.  My husband, however, was very polite.

"When is your next baby due?"  My reply to this man was, "Oh, I'm not pregnant.  I just still look pregnant because my twins are only 2 1/2 months old.  What I wanted to say was a lot of swear words and then walk away to cry.  (I think I did walk away to cry).

So if you do see someone in the store who has twins, do tell them they're babies are adorable and they are so lucky to have twins, but do not ask them any of the above questions.  :)

Adorable Headbands

I made a few headbands for Lindy this weekend, and I though I would share the most unique ones.  They were so easy to make.  I made 6 total, and I think that the amount of money I spent on supplies (about $15) would've bought me only one headband from a store or fellow crafter.  To assemble them I just used hot glue.  Very simple and all 6 of them took me about a half an hour to make. 

On a side note, Lindy was not being a very happy model so she looks pretty serious in all of the photos.

The first one is strictly for Halloween.  It has a spider on it, and I think it's pretty cool!

The next one has a butterfly on it.  I like how unique this one is. 

The last one is a classic Gerbera Daisy head band.  I made 4 of these in various color combinations.