Day 177 of 60 lbs

It is becoming VERY clear to me that I will in fact NOT reach my goal of losing 60 lbs in 6 months. However, I came to and have mentioned this realization a few times before and once again, I am OKAY with that. I have made, in my opinion, HUGE success and am going to keep on movin on!

I have reached the 1/2 way point and am happy to say that if feels really good! It also feels really good to know that I am not going to go back in the upwards direction- meaning prego- again for a while. It was at this point Post-Lucy that I was pregnant again with Peter. I was happy but was deeply hoping NOT to re-gain the amount of weight that I did with Lucy. No such luck.
Things here in the Barker household have been busy busy busy, but good! We are anxiously awaiting the Sale of our home and hope it comes quickly!

Swim lessons were a big hit for Lucy a few weeks ago and we are going to go with another session in a few weeks! She is a fish! Loves the water.... just like her mama! Maybe the fact that I labored in the water with her increased her LOVE for water! She is a natural and kicks her feet like a rockstar!

We are looking forward to the 4th of July and celebrating! ( Do you remember when our neighbor asked Ben if we celebrated the 4th? and I said " we're mormon, not British!" So yah.. we will be celebrating! the 4th is one of my favorite holidays!)

The humidity here in Charleston is in full swing and sometimes gets the best of me! But we are staying cool by getting some pool time in and frequent visits to the library! Oh and Popsicles.... LOTS of "pop-a-sicles!"

We have also been saying goodbye to GOOD friends... We are going to miss you Berrey's! we already do! Hope you are doing well in Oklahoma! One last trip to the Creperi for Elizabeth's farewell!

( ps. look at those calves on my little Lulu!- Grandpa will be so proud)I borrowed my neighbors camera to see if I really NEED a SLR camera.. and I do NEED one!

Here are a few picts that I took of some of our neighbors flowers!

I love this one of the trees and the flag in the background!

We are anxiously awaiting our trip out to Washington where we will go again for the 2nd year in a row to Coure D'Alene! Sometimes the knowing that we will be heading to the lake house is what keeps me going!

Peter got the "o.k" to be treated like a "normal" child again and a clear report from the Hematologist! We are pleased to know that our little peanut is healthy and well! Bruising now is not a concern anymore and unless we see any abnormal bruising or bleeding he is to continue normal activity! Yay buddy! So other than those horrible molars coming in and the need to "bang" his head on anything hard when he gets mad.. we are super happy!

That is a good re-cap of what we have been doing! I will be trying to update more and will give the final weigh-in next Monday!

Have a good one!

Day 156 of 60lbs

Did I ever tell you how much

I

LOVE

this girl?

We walked 4.8 miles this morning with the "B" girls.

Barker, Bright, and Berrey to exact.

And with all of our adorable babies!

We always attract attention in one way or another.

Today we attracted the kind of attention that was of the, "umm, that comment/compliment was a little uncomfortable and akward, and if you were actually attractive then maybe that would have been flattering but from you it was slightly creepy and weird"- kind of way.

You know?

Well, the almost 5 miles proved to be stretching it out for the kids a little and we ended up running the last 1/2 mile plus. Our legs were tired and feeling it towards the end but the weather was just too perfect to sell our selves short of soaking up every last bit.. and thus we did!

Happy sunny cool days to you!

And one more thing:

Boston

better show up tonight!

Day 150 of 60lbs

I bought a new nail polish color yesterday...

melon Sorbet.

It is divine. The perfect summer color. It looks adorable with my bronzed body. Ha

But with my brown rainbows it kind of "pops" and I like it. It's the little things you know.

Speaking of little things...

Lucy -little as she is- can belt out the chorus to the Beibster, you know that song that was like #1 on the charts for like six hundred days in a row... "Baby"

I have some video and I will post it when I get it onto the computer and off of my phone! It is absolutely hysterical and adorable and I just can't get enough of her doing it!

She also is doing lots of little naughty things... and my paitence is wearing extremely thin and has been lost at times. But we are trying and determined to succeed in our parenting efforts!

I woke up without a voice yesterday. And the only part of my voice that could be even remotely available for anyone other than dogs to hear was as deep as the pacific ocean on the worst stormy day. Horrible. Nasty.

I did however make it to the gym and it felt "oh so good" on my body. Today my quads are super sore from the billion squats I did. The scale was in my favor and it made things that much more energetic!

I watched Jillian's new show last night

"Losing It, with Jillian Michaels"

At first, I thought, wow this is pretty cool. Then it was a little intense, like really intense, really staged and a little akward to watch. And then it kind of leveled out and there was moments of tenderness. All in all, I think I will watch it again, but not very hopefull that it will make it too many more seasons.

Memorial Day of 60lbs

Well...
I kind of fell of my bandwagon last night.
I drank a Diet Coke.
And it was lovely.... truly LOVELY!
The best part about it was that I know that I am just fine without it for long durations of time.
I don't want it quite like I used to. And that is wonderful.
I succommed to the temptation before 6 months but I am okay with that. I did experience a moment of weakness when I decided to open the can... but it ended with a sense of triumph of strength!


Back to business this week.- working out business. Jillian is calling my name to the gym and I got one of my fitness magazines in the mail with some pretty cool new ideas for toning for summer.

Is anyone else thinking about deleting Facebook? What is all the controversy? Should I take picts down of the kids? Delete conversations? Hmmm
I tried Craigslist for the first time advertising the sale of this house and now my inbox is flooded with what seems to be "fishy" emails. I am deleting them all.
Why is this world wide web so freaking awesome and downright horrible all at the same time?
Time to detox from FB, craigslist, blogger, email??????
My head is not only filled with conflicting thoughts of "how much is too much?" to share but the green snot that is blocking the sinuses is in the way too!!!
ahhhhh
My kids are currently taking advantage of my computer time and have successfully unloaded every drawer full of clothes and all books- and there are alot of them- are on the floor in a humungous pile that they are climbing on with much enthusiasm. AHHHH summm!
Have a wonderful memorial day.

day who knows of 60lbs

I have seriously been slacking on my documentation of my weight loss goal, the weight is still dropping, ( not as quickly as I had hoped but either way, still on the decline!)

On another note... Summer seems to be in full swing.

We have successfully been without the heater for 3 weeks now and the air-conditioner is working mighty fine! The humidity is quite possibly going to drive me insane along with the mosquitos, but a little "Off" and it's go time!

I woke up a few days ago and read a blog that I have fallen in love with and decided just like Kelle, that this too was going to be a summer to remember! I love love love the sunshine, water and popsicles, oh and the baseball games (d-backs are the fav)! We have been soaking it up. all. week. and I have a thousand pictures to prove it. I will spare a thousand pictures but I will put up some favorites!

Waking up, watering flowers, a nice 5 mile walk with the ladies and babies, dips in the pool.
Sunshine makes for lovely long naps after lunch.

A little blonde haried 3 year old and the cutest red-headed 1 year old wake up with the most intense desire to go right back out for round 2 of water and sunshine. I just can't help it.... if there is sunshine and warmth... let's be outside.

There is always a scent of BBQ within range of my senses. Breathe in. Delish.

The smell of sunscreen lingers until bathtime and then we lather up with Burt's best! Nothing smells better on my babies!

I love sitting on the bed at night and feeling the coolness that the ceiling fan has to offer.

Summertime really is delightful!

There is sunshine in my soul.

So happy that this will stay around for a few months. We are going to soak it up!

Oh and one more "super" thing... I found a "Superman" shirt that is to.die.for.sexy for Superman. I will snap a few shots of him in his aviators... take my breath away! Yum. Stay tuned for that one.

Day 125 of 60lbs

Good morning Monday morning.

Mondays always start off so fresh and full of energy for me. And when the sun is shining it is that much more propelling into what lies ahead for the week.
Working people tend to fret Monday's coming... and although I am on round the clock duty, Monday is just that much more thrilling because it is a start to anew.
Sunday is our day to rest and that probably has a bit to do with how Monday can seem a little more thrilling.
So here we are Monday morning and I am feeling especially hopeful that I will do better.
I pleaded in my prayers last night that I might find the energy to accomplish the things that I have time to think about in my thoughts. I get these really motivated thoughts and excited about fulfilling them and then when it comes time to execute.. the energy is not as pungent as it was in my original thoughts.
So here is to my energy being full all week and able to accomplish the things that are important to me both physically mentally emotionally and spiritually. ( not necessarily in any order)
Happy Monday.... I am going to learn to play tennis today! Thanks to Jenny!

Day 115 of 60lbs

You know how sometimes your life swirls around you?

Well that seems to be what is happening to my life recently.

Except, I am present, and enjoying life rather than just letting it pass me by.

And thankfully so.

Don't get me wrong... some days are quite challenging.

Especially when you make visits to the Emergency room, or try to coordinate family picture outfits, or when the stubborness of a certain 3 year old is rooted so deep you have to dig your way to China to soften them up- everything is made in China nowadays right?- or when you have to try to keep the cutest Red head- who is just learning to toddle- from getting the slightest bump or fall. ( strict instructions from the above mentioned ER visit)

And then somedays are so exhilirating.

The days when I say to Lucy " your so gorgeous" (all dramatic like)

and she says "NOOOOOO your so GORGEOUS mama" ( I'll take it- dramatics and all)

When we get to go on super long walks with super awesome friends.

The days when we ride around the neighborhood and take in the beautiful-ness of these West Virginia hills, and the beauty that spring has to offer. Really not much can compare to this kind of beauty. Everything just seems right with the world when the spring is in full force.

I am in a good place right now, and although things are not as progressed as far a long as I would like them too with my goals as far as weight loss goes, I am okay with that right now. I am still on the losing track and am thankful that I am able to have some balance right now. Even if this takes me 8 months or 10 months I am going to keep on going. Because keep on going is what we have to do right?

When this life starts swirling... just keep twirling.

And that is just what I am doing.