12 Week Countdown

Hello blog readers... if any of you are still out there!

It's been a while, yes, and i know I said that last time. I'm hoping to re-connect with my blog and share with you an exciting adventure I'm embarking on! Some of you already know, but for those who don't, I have decided to compete in a fitness competition. Sounds crazy... I know. But a girl needs some goals, right? 

I promised some of you that I would keep you updated on my workouts and diet, so I'm going to PROMISE to update my blog weekly with this information, and hopefully blog about everything else going on in my life... like this cute thing!

She was saying "cheese" and bouncing off the walls in this picture!

So, back to the fitness competition. I'm doing the bikini portion of the competition which requires an overall lean toned look, not big huge body builder muscles. The hardest thing for me will be walking across stage in a bikini. But I'm sure once this is over and I transform my body I will have no problem doing so.

Ok, so here it is... the dreaded "before pic." I can't believe I'm posting it, but I want everyone to see where I started, and where I end. I will have 12 weeks to complete my transformation, so I'll post progress pics along the way as well. 

Current Weight: 134 (I'm 5'7")

Body Fat: 15.7%

Right now, my diet looks as follows:

1600 calories

18g fat

140 g carbs

220 g protein

Here's what a typical day for me looks like

a.m. 1 scoop protein powder w/water

brast: 6 egg whites, 1/2 c oatmeal w/cinnamon, black coffee

post workout: 2 scoops protein powder, apple

lunch one: 3 oz chicken, 1/2 c brown rice, 3 oz asparagus

snack: 1 scoop protein powder

lunch 2: 3 oz chicken, 1/2 c brown rice

dinner: 4 oz fish or shrimp, 1 c broccoli, 5 strawberries

snack: 1 scoop protein, or 5 egg whites

It seems like a lot right now, but I will be pulling things out along the way, which my trainer will instruct me on.

Workouts right now are 5 days a week, typically 1 hour/day. One day of legs, a day of back & biceps, a day of shoulders, chest, & triceps, a day of total body, and a day of cardio. This will change throughout the process as well. 

Ok. Now that that's over, I'm off to bed! Leave me a comment of encouragement... PLEASE!!!!!

Missing My Baby

Last weekend we attended a wedding in Galveston, so we dropped Taylor off at my parent's house on the way. As hard as it was saying goodbye to my baby, I needed a weekend getaway. 

Obviously by the looks of this picture, she had a great time!

And when we got home to Austin, Taylor did something amazing! She counted to 10! Literally! I'm not kidding! I started to count her toy cookies and I said one and she immediately followed with two, three, four, and so on! Paul happened to walk in the room at that very moment and we were both so proud of our girl!

Taylor is getting so big and becoming a little lady. She always says please and thank you. If she hits you she will say, I'm sorry mommy, or daddy, or Max, or whoever she just hit. Sometimes I think she likes to hit just so she can say sorry!

She is always saying, "Daddy, are you?" (where are you), "Max, are you?" It's so cute! My heart melts every time she opens her mouth. She loves to put more than one word together at a time and I'm sure she'll be speaking sentences by the time she's 2!

Ok, enough bragging about my girl (but what mother doesn't!). I just LOVE my Tay Tay to pieces!

Happy Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend with Paul and Taylor.  We ended up celebrating on Saturday instead of Sunday. Our day started with a nice workout at the gym, a nap for Taylor, then we all headed out to Driftwood for some food and wine. Taylor was pretty good, except when it was time to eat. She lasted about 30 minutes at the table before she wanted down. We decided to eat in shifts and let her play outside. Not the most enjoyable, but it worked. Next time we will order pizzas and sit outside with our wine and eat. Lesson learned. 

Taylor and I before heading out

Walking up to Driftwood Winery

Playing in the fountain at Duchman Winery (formerly Mandola's)

Picking flowers

Walking through Duchman Winery

OUTSIDE PLEASE!!!

Sitting at the table at Trattorina Lisina. Almost had enough!

Happy Easter!

This Easter we planned a low key get-together with some great friends at our house. I can honestly say this is one of the best Easter's I've ever had! Not that Easter's past were bad, but this one was special because it was "our" family making new memories and hopefully, new traditions. 

We started the day off by letting Taylor open her Easter basket. Well, she actually went and found it and made us give it to her!

Then Daddy helped her uncover all the goodies inside!

At 11, our friends arrived and everyone was starving, so we sat down to eat. In true Taylor fashion, she had a melt down and ended up taking her nap early. Unfortunately I didn't think about snapping pics of our fabulous meal until after everyone had eaten, so the photos aren't that great, and there wasn't much food left. 

These egg cakes are a part of my childhood, and now, I want to make them part of Taylor's. Every Easter we would go camping with our neighbors and their grandma would make these. They were the most delicious amazing cakes I had ever eaten. They were so kind to share the recipe and now I can make them for Taylor. Another post on this later!

Double blueberry muffins! Soooo good! 

Cabbage and Potato Hash... this was all that was left!

Veggie Frittata!

Jordan drinking mimosas courtesy of Brandie and Dallas

There were also delicious pancakes Whitney made, but by the time I got my camera out they were all eaten!

The egg hunt is about to begin!

Porter found one!

Reiser must see an egg!

Lots of eggs in Reiser's basket!

Whitney with the kids

Pretty Marley

Sadly, Taylor woke up after the fun was over. Later in the day we headed over to Jordan and Whitney's for some Austin's pizza. Taylor took a slice home and ate it like a big girl for the first time. These are the only other photos I took of her today!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Fainting

When Taylor was a baby she would get so upset and hold her breath when she was crying. I'm talking about that type of cry where the mouth is opened, the face is beat red, and no sound is coming out. 

Taylor, 1 month old

A friend of mine who had a baby 3 months before Taylor told me that her friends little girl cried like that one time and fainted! The doctor said it is very common and probably won't be the last time. Ever since she told me I've always wondered with Taylor if this is the cry that is going to cause her to faint. 

Honestly, I thought we passed that stage because she doesn't really cry like that anymore. 

That is until today. It's been one of those days where nothing makes her happy. Something (I still don't know what) made her so mad that she screamed until nothing was coming out. I quickly realized that this was probably the longest she had ever held her breath for and maybe this was the "time." I picked her up and started blowing in her face (which has always worked). She quickly took a breath, cried, and then went limp in my arms. I saw her eyes roll in the back of her head, and then like that, she came too. It was only a matter of seconds, but I remember it so vividly.

Everyone keeps asking if I was freaking out, or crying. No, I wasn't. I was very frazzled and extremely concerned about the health of my daughter, but part of me has always expected this to happen. I think the fact that I remained calm helped Taylor to not freak out. 

Taylor is doing fine and probably doesn't even know what happened. I just hope it doesn't happen again! Even though I've always expected it, that doesn't make any less scary!

City Center

Two weekends ago Paul got tickets to the final four in Houston, so off we went. He took my brother-in-law to the game, and I got to hang out with my mom, sister, and babies. One day we headed over to City Center for lunch and to watch the Dog Festival. Taylor had so much fun, as did all of us. I stole these pictures straight from my sister's blog, A Wonderful Little Life. Check it out!

Jackson likes Tay Tay's hamburger

yummy

Tay Tay likes the balls

she loved this doggie with the flower

bye bye doggie

Tay Tay couldn't wait for her balloon.  Then when the clown handed it to her she said no!

these dogs were awesome!

wonder what they are talking about

so funny!  She would just stop and dance.  She dropped it like its hot

Jackson doesn't look to happy.  It was nap time but there was too much going on o sleep!

yummm cupcakes!

Let the dog parade begin!

All dogs go to heaven