Weight Loss Progress Picture

Out of curiousity, where do YOU, as in my avid reader ;), see the most change?
(Picture quality is kinda crappy on first image, it was from my phone.)

Left- End of July Right-End of October

The Weight Loss Update!

Glass half full, over the hill, 50%, rounding second, 1:2, or in other words, I've made it to the half way point of my goal! :)



Weight loss is an ongoing process. I had a very successful first and second month. Losing weight and maintaining that lost weight. The weight doesn't come off as easy now but it still comes off! The diet still works and I'm still sticking to it!

I've lost 20.4 lbs and have 19.2 lbs to go. :)

Zero, One, Two

Ryder Crew- Age Zero

My water broke at 4:30 in the morning on a beautiful Saturday, and after 5 very quick, and sometimes painful hours, our little boy was here!
Born- September 12, 2009
Time- 9:42.02 a.m.
Weight- 7 lbs. 11 oz.
Height- 19 inches

Fun Facts:
*I had to have two epidurals because my first one didn't work. My second one wasn't placed until I was 8 cm. dilated.
*Ryder came out posterior, (face up instead of face down). Which gave him a HUGE bruise on his head that caused him to get Jaundice.


Ryder Crew- Age One
Weight-26 lbs. 2 oz. Percentile-89%
Height-31 inches. Percentile-84%

We threw Ryder's first birthday party on September 5th, 2010. His dad had an 'out of town' job at the time so that was the weekend he was home. It was at the Soccer Park in Nibley. It was windy as hell, and we forgot Ryder's hoody. So, he wore his cousin Cason's spare. We also got his pics taken at Smiles Portrait Studio in a suit. :)
On his actual birthday, I took him to Hogle Zoo with his grandma.

Fun Facts:
*Ryder was already walking at the time. Which was surprising because he had barely started crawling at 10 months.
*He cut his first tooth three days before his birthday.


Ryder Crew- Age Two
Weight-36 lbs Percentile-99%
Height-36 1/4 inch Percentile-91%

For Ryder's second birthday, we decided to do a theme for his party. His favorite things in the world are cars, trucks, motorcycles...pretty much a gear-head like his daddy. As Cars 2 had just come out, there was a plethura of Cars 2 toys, clothes, and party stuff out. With a splash of Spongebob (his FAVORITE show) thrown in the mix, we had a party ready! His party was the day before his birthday.
On his actual birthday, we took him to see Cars 2. He did great and loved it!

Fun Facts:
*Ryder learned to sing happy birthday before the big day. "Happ-Birth To Day!" was how he sang it.
*He is a very intelligent child. (I know every mom says that but he really is.) He already has the patience to sit and draw pictures, loves to listen to books, and asks questions about the world around him. He is talking more and more every day. One of my favorite things he says is how he answers questions, "Yes, I do it mom". Adorable!
*If you double your childs height at their 2-year checkup it is a good estimate of their adult height. Its 90% accurate that they will be within two inches of that height up or down. Ryder's predicted height is 6 foot 1/2 inch. :)

Weeks 5 and 6?

Wondering where I've been? Thinking I fell off the wagon? haha Well, if thats what you thought... you were kinda right. Let me explain...

I think EVERYONE can agree that when you're dieting, you get to a point where you get sick of it and want to 'cheat' a little bit. Well, I may have got to this point at the end of my first month. So I thought about this, and decided something I want to bring to attention. Anyone can follow a calorie plan and lose weight. But what happens as soon as your target weight is reached? You go back to eating 'normal'. Which usually means one thing- weight gain. I decided that learning to MAINTAIN weight is just as important, if not MORE important than just losing the weight in the first place. As I was feeling those 'screw this diet urges' I made the decision to take a little break from the calorie restriction and learn to maintain! I raised my calorie limit to what the average woman of my height should be eating daily and even treated myself to some well deserved cravings, such as Costa Vida, Mmmmmmmmmm. And guess what? Success! I just completed two weeks of maintenance and am within 1/2 a lb of the weight I was when I started.

With that said, I am going BACK AT IT this week, ready to kick the weight loss off again! 1,000 calories a day, lots of water, and if I can get a volunteer to join me, i'm going to YOGA!! (come on, anyone?)

Goal for this week, 3 lbs. down!

Week 4!

Week Four, Ready for more! (...my weekly rhyme just gets better and better!)

When I started with the goal to lose this weight, I outlined my goals as such:
-Lose 39 pounds.
-Complete this in 6 months tops.
-KEEP THE WEIGHT OFF.

..and I intend to keep these goals! Who knew that only ONE MONTH into this, I would've nearly lost half of the weight!

When you are counting calories and only consuming 1,000 calories every day, it is crucial to see those results; To give you the motivation to keep it up, Especially when the overall goal can seem sooo far away. Its pretty daunting to be at the starting line, and think "39 pounds!" It seems like this huge, unattainable amount. Well, a month into this, I can say that whatever your weight loss goal is, its NOT unattainable. Dedicate yourself to your goal, set a timeline, stick to your plan, and you'll get there! With that said,

My updated tracker....



16 lbs. What does 16 lbs mean to me? It means I've lost the weight gained with my surgery. It also means I've lost the rebound weight from the HCG diet. Most importantly, It means that the weight I have left to lose, is the rest of the baby weight; The original problem. With the exception of the HCG disaster, I haven't weighed this amount since November of 2009; Two months after having Ryder. :)

16 lbs down, 23 lbs to go!

Week Three!

Week Three Go Me!

This week's loss is not near as satisfying as the last two. BUT, that's to be expected. The first couple weeks at a diet or exercise program are expected to be great, because your body goes into shock a little bit. As long as I continue to lose weight steadily, I'll be happy. If I hit a plateau, steer clear of me!


I've lost 14.2 lbs total! I lost 2.4 lbs this last week. I did great with drinking a lot of water, but it was mostly LifeWater which is flavored, hopefully that didn't actually hurt my weight loss instead of helping.

Goal for this week: More (plain) Water, and the addition of a little bit of exercise. I say "a little bit" because whenever I JUMP into a new exercise plan, it usually only lasts a few weeks before I get sick of it. I miss dance! After dancing for 17 years, Its hard to find other forms of cardio/exercise that I like or are exciting. So if anyone out there has a dance class that they like, for adults, that is challenging yet non-competitive let me know! That's all this mommy/working/student has time for!

Week Two!

Week Two is Through!! (Yes, I feel the need to rhyme.)I had another successful week at the diet! Let me let you in on a little secret... My mom's birthday was on Sunday and I actually fit cake/icecream into my calories for the day :/ and STILL lost weight!!

I've lost 12 lbs. in TWO WEEKS!!!! (11.8 if we're getting technical, which my tracker does not do ;-)) It feels soooo good to lose weight! It really does! And I am all the more motivated to start to add more exercise to my plan. BUT! My bigger goal for the week, DRINK MORE WATER! I did well in week one, but this last week I couldn't seem to put down my diet soda. Hopefully I'll have another great number next week!

WEEK ONE is done! ;)

Week One of my diet was a success. I found my diet plan to be very easy to stick to! And was very pleased to find a delicious sandwhich at Subway, and a delicious Pita at Pita Pit that fit right in to my calorie plan. Its SO nice when I find 'take-out' food that fits my diet because I love to go out to eat! So to you dieters out there, try the Sweet Onion Chicken Sandwhich off of Subway's Fit Menu, or at Pita they have a calorie listing of all of their foods, so its very easy to pick the calories you are eating! I went for a Philly Steak on a wheat pita with some yummy fix-ins! ;)

Drum Roll Please.......

Yep! 7.2 lbs down in Week One. (See why I call it a success?!) I'm very happy with the results of my hard work! My doctor had said that if you are aiming to lose weight, your success is based 85% on your diet and only 15% comes from exercise. So its SOO important to make sure you watch what you eat!! (Please don't take that to mean 'Don't Exercise' because exercise is important in so many other ways; I.E. Toning, Keeping that heart healthy, and having tons of energy!)

Stay Tuned for week 2!!

Lifestyle Changes.

My baby boy was born on September 12th, 2009. He is the best thing to ever happen to me! But along with being all so wonderful, he also left behind a lot of baby weight on his momma. I gained 41 lbs. throughout my pregnancy. At my 6 week checkup after having Ryder, I had lost 22 lbs. 19 lbs to go! (to my pre-pregnancy weight.)

The most success I have had in losing my baby weight was last summer when I did the HCG diet. I lost another 15 lbs. 4 lbs. to go! As soon as the HCG diet ended, my weight came back with a vengence! (A lot of women I've talked to had the same thing happen to them with the HCG diet.) *Insert Sad Face Here* ...26 lbs to go.

Throughout the past year my weight refuses to budge. It is a CONSTANT source of misery for me! I miss my old self! The energy I had, the way my clothes fit! Everything.

In May, I had to have an emergency appendectomy, (removal of the appendix.) Reguardless of the size of the appendix, (about the size of your pinky), you'd think you'd lose a pound or two with this surgery, right? Yeah. I gained another 11 lbs. Gag. 37 lbs. to go.

Let me just tell you, the honesty you are experiencing right now is hard for me. I have always had "weight issues", and have obviously spent the past nearly two years in denial over the fact that I've lost control of my body. But its time for a new day, a new dawning in the weight department of my life. I had a physical with my primary care physician on Wednesday, discussed all of my feelings about what has become of my post-baby body, and have set up a Weight Loss Plan! I'm nervous, excited, scared, hopeful, apprehensive, and most of all READY for what is to come. My blog is going to serve as a bit of a Weight Loss Journey journal over the next 6 months. What a perfect way to vent my frustrations/achievements along the way! As the ticker below shows, zero lbs. lost, but as of Tuesday, July 26th, My weight loss journey begins! Check back to see that number climb, as the number on the scale goes down, and most importantly, Wish Me Luck!!! ;)

0 lbs. lost, 37 lbs. to go!

The Big Day.

Our Wedding Day [-5.1.11-]

What an amazing day it was! I love how everything turned out, all the details were perfect! We missed any and all rain that the day had planned for us, and we were surrounded by many of our wonderful family and friends. After being together for nearly 3 years, we finally made it official. :) I hope you all enjoy a little bit of the story, told by the bride.

The Ceremony Collage.

Talia was our beautiful little flower girl. She is our one and only niece. She is seven-years old, full of energy, and loves to dance (LIKE HER AUNTIE ALEX!!), and she did a beautiful job! ...Then there's Ryder, who had to fight (as you can see) his grandma's all the way down the aisle. What's funny is once he got to the front, he THRIVED in the spotlight; and when it came time for him to bring the ring pillow up, he threw it at his daddy and got a laugh from the whole crowd. :)

We also included a sand ceremony which is a symbolic ceremony from Kyle's catholic faith. (Unity Candle is a similar thing if you've ever heard of that.) But basically, we had two separate colors of sand that we poured into one vase. Symbolizing 'Two becoming One'.


This is our Jones side, Kyle's wonderful family. I love the picture of him and his sisters!

Like the majority of the population, my parents are divorced, so there's two family collages for me; One with my dad's side, including his fiance Danielle and her kids.

This is my mom's side, including her husband Kent, and all of my wonderful cousins and my grandparents.

I had to throw in a couple of 'detail' collages. :)

Our cake was beautiful. I took a picture of what I wanted to Marnie Jeppsen, and she matched it exactly. She did my flowers as well, she's the best! And the rest of the details were my own flare. ;)

How can you NOT post a big "Ryder" collage when he is this dang handsome!! Our photographer, Alana Lange, got a ton of amazing shots of him! (and the rest of the wedding of course.)

And Last, a collage of me and my wonderful new husband Kyle Jones! He is truely an amazing man, a wonderful father, and my best friend!

Uh Oh..

The pictures are obviously from Easter. It was Ryder's second Easter but his first time being able to participate! He was SOO cute finding all his eggs. We had a lot of fun. :)

Ok, I am aware that I've been blogless for a couple months now. I was (and am) waiting to blog about the wedding but I'm waiting till I get my pictures from the wonderful Alana Lange! So as to that, To Be Continued...

But I did have a cute idea of something I wanted to blog, and then of course add to Ryder's scrapbook. ;) Because, He is 20 months old today!!!! His biggest accomplishments over the last few weeks is how quickly he's learning new words and sounds, so to celebrate his 20 month, I'm going to make a list of all the words he can say! (that i can think of).. I'll put the word and then how it sounds when he says it ;)

• Mom- mom, momma




• Dad- dadda




• Grandma- mup-ma




• Nona- Nona (his other grandma)




• Grandpa- ump-pa




• Papa- papa (his other grandpa)




• Talia- Tah-ya or ya-ya (his cousin)




• Daycie- daycie (aunt)




• Bike- bii or bike




• Car(s)- Cah or cahs




• Truck- twu or twuck (daddy's truck is "dadda vroom vroom")




• Mike- Mii (roommate "uncle mike")




• Ball- baw-o




• Eyes- eye-ss




• Hair- ha-wo (some of these ending in O or Wo are more because he can't do the 'R' sound yet.)




• Ears- ees




• Head- head




• Mouth- mow




• Nose- nosse (he really drags out those S's haha)




• Chin- chih




• Cheek- chee-kuh




• Toes- towwsss




• Shoes- shoess




• Juice- juice




• Cracker- cwa-cah




• Milk- mih-o




• More- moh




• Bite- Bii




• Please- peece! (soo cute)




• Cookie- coo-kuh




• Banana- nanna's




• Cake- cay-kuh (learned this on our wedding day ;)




• Cheese- cheessse




• Rice- ice




• Up- uh!




• Down- dow




• Flower- fow-ah




• Night-Night- Nuh-nii




• Bye-Bye- Buh-by




• Hi- hiii




• Uh-Oh- Uht-Ohh (my favorite)




• Oh-No- Ohhhh-Nooooo!




• Yeah!- Yeahhhhhhhh!




• One-Two-Three- Un-twooo-tweee




• A-B-C- Ah-oh-uh! (lol)




• Ready-Set-Go- Seet-gooo

I'm sure there are many more that I just can't think of ;) but here's a start!! He's gotten to the point where he'll attempt to say anything you ask him, but these are all the ones he just says on his own; and he still uses the sign language form of hungry and thirsty.

Kyle's Double Duces!

When I was little, I thought you were suppost to marry a guy that is 4 years older; Because my dad is four years older than my mom. (Makes sense right?) I think throughout my dating years, there was 1 guy that met that 4 year older criteria. To my dismay, I ended up with a YOUNGER guy. haha 5 months and 5 days younger to be exact! And he doesn't let me forget it! ;)

I doubt I'll really care till I hit 30 and he's still 29. Same with 40, 50 even? After that I'll just give it up.

But the day has come, and Kyle finally caught up to me. We're both at the wise old age of TWENTY TWO! haha

Here is a pic of his loot from me and Ryder! Grillin' King.

Kyle's mom made us delicious dinner and his favorite Pistachio cake. It was all delicious of course.

I can't do a blog post without a pic or two of Ryder! Lets face it, he's the reason you all come to see my blog am I right?? ;) Its ok I would to.

Ryder was watching Spongebob Squarepants; Which I LOVE. I used to have my room decorated in Spongebob stuff, it was that bad. I guess, Like momma, Like son!

Look at momma's lil Low Rider! (or Low Ryder! if you will.)

Studly little man if I do say so myself! Ryder had his half birthday on March 12th, (a day before dad's birthday.) He's officially half way to TWO!

ahhhh, Denver.

Reasons Why I Love Thee!

I can't describe the feeling of visiting Denver, Colorado. Something about this city just calls to me. I feel like I'm home when I'm there and I've never lived there. Interesting that the universe brings a Colorado native into my life whom I happen to fall madly in love with. Because if it weren't for Kyle, who knows when I wouldve discovered my little Denver love.

Now, I need to insert a little Note here, to my wonderful family. When I talk about moving to Denver, its not because I hate you guys and want to put all this distance between us. Its not cause I'm trying to escape this very escapable valley either. I appreciate my upbringing here, and I love my family so much. Its honestly just Denver itself. Its so beautiful, and I seem to have an undescribable PULL to it! Lets just get this out there; I WILL be moving to Colorado. I WILL be raising my family there. But I will also be visiting Utah so much to see my family that you guys will hardly notice I'm gone. Not to mention, you all will inherit a Colorado vacation home because our doors will always be open and welcoming for family visits. To my family: I LOVE YOU. Don't feel hurt about this decision of mine.

NOW, :) Lets get to the good stuff! PICS!

This here, Is Denver, Colorado. We took a little weekend stroll over to Colorado to spend Kyle's sister Nikki's 30th birthday with her; and lets face it, Just to get out of Utah for a bit.

The drive from Grand Junction to Denver is all a canyon drive. It passes through all those popular CO ski resorts like Vail, Aspen (etc.) and is probably the ONLY four hour stretch of a drive that I have ever been on where I didn't get bored and ask "are we there yet?" :) It was SO pretty, had lots of cool tunnels and was just a fun, curvy canyon to drive through.

First thing we did when we got to Denver was meet up with an old highschool friend of Kyle's, Stacy Bretz, and her daughter Paytin. I've talked to Stacy ever since we were both pregnant so it was soo fun to finally get to meet her in person! Not to mention, little princess Paytin is even cuter in person than in her pictures! She was so cute and gave Ryder hugs. :) He smiles whenever he see's this pic. Ahh Young Love.

Speaking of Love, this is mine. :)

Isn't it amusing that people really do have a 'good side' for a pic. In the left one, that is Kyle's. In the pic on the right, that is mine. Lol. I look so different in these two pics and they were both taken on our trip!

One of our FAVORITE reasons for getting to go to Denver is the FOOD. We ate at Chipotle twice, which is the BEST Mexican food ever. Then Roosters in Grand Junction and Buffalo Wild Wings (a.k.a. B-Dubs) just outside of Denver for some DELICIOUS wings! (..and now, with my mouth watering, I'll move on.)

There's probably not a better way to end the blog than with a picture of this little stud. I LOVE this pic, simply because LOOK at those eyesss! Such a gorgeous little kid. He did so well on our trip; Besides a disastrous puking incident in the car, which turned into a 45 minute clean-up at a rest stop, he tolerated all the driving really well! It was his 2nd trip to Denver, (4th if you count the two times we went when i was pregnant ;)). His first trip he was still really little, barely able to roll over. This time around he got a lot more excited over the whole deal, it was a lot of fun to watch him.

I hope you all enjoyed a little recap of our trip as much as we enjoyed actually going! (Doubt you did ;) we had way more fun.)

Change.

To all you moms out there, do you ever peruse old photo's and find yourself about in tears at how much your kids have changed? Wondering where the time went? I'm having one of those days and let me show you why...

I could fit his whole butt in one hand!! (lol) I LOVED when I'd pick him up as a newborn and he'd stay all bunched up like that!

And this is the little man now!! Not so little at all. Sigh! But still cute as ever!! :)

Ryder is definitely the best thing that has ever happened to me, He puts a smile on my face each and every day! I remember coming up with baby names as early as about 12 years old, and spent a LOT of my TV time watching shows like "A Baby Story", Finally being able to be a mom myself has been the most exciting adventure ever. And can't wait to be able to do it all over again!! :)

I love my Ryder Bug!

Finally jumping on the blog wagon.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I have a LOT of "what-to-do" moments in my life. I'm the over-analyzer, the worry wart, the one who wouldn't know the first thing about the phrase 'clear your mind'. Now you would think that such an active mind would also be full of answers and a total pro at problem solving...Yeah..not so much.

Today, I've decided to try and simplify things. I have a problem. I have a hard working significant other, Kyle, (no guys he's not the problem ;)) that works out of town. He's gone for 10 days at a time. I find that when I have a minor problem, without him to talk to, my tiny problem becomes a crisis! I need a way to be able to vent to the world, speak my fears/doubts, or my triumphs, and know that someone out there is listening and can help! Kyle does the best he can for me, but 1. He's in Texas, and 2. I don't want to always be overwhelming him when he's got enough on his plate!

Anyone out there want to help this crazy momma keep her cool?!

Sigh, ahh that was nice.