Playing Catch Up

Woah. I think I always have to play catch up on this thing! You'd think with school being out for me & Hunter I'd have more time on my hands. But that is just not true. June was a lot of fun. To start out, I went on vacation to Shreveport, LA with my dad, sister & brother. We stayed at Diamond Jacks Casino & Resort. It was so pretty there. Unfortunately, the actual hotel rooms weren't kept up with as much as we think they should have been, but still a good experience.

There were a few nights that we walked the Louisiana Boardwalk. It was a lot of fun. There was tons of shopping & restaurants.

Thankfully, we got a few family pictures :)

The boardwalk at night was breathtaking. I remember driving into Las Vegas at night when I was a child, and this reminded me- a TINY bit- of that overwhelming feeling of lights! It was gorgeous. I could have sat there all night long. A few days away was just not long enough. I did miss my kiddos though.

One of the first things I did with them when I got back home was go to the Ft. Worth Zoo. Even though I've been there countless times, it never gets old. Avery LOVES animals. I can really see her as a vet or zookeeper something like that one day.

 Before we knew it, July had begun. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go to Possum Kingdom lake for the 4th this year like we usually do. Instead, we went down to Burleson where my dad's side of the family has a get together every year. Most of them hadn't met Avery before so that was exciting. My sister and her boyfriend tagged along. The little boy standing between Cody & I in our picture is his son. He was too cute. Avery & him had a "thing" going on.

Baseball has been so so fun! Hunter didn't even want to play this year because of our bad experience last year (a coach who didn't really care). But we are so happy he decided to do it- and he is too! They went 8-2 in their regular season (his coach got them all a trophy- Hunter's first). He was struggling in the beginning with hitting the ball but now every game he gets at least one hit :) I'm so proud. Tonight is his last tournament game. If they win, they get 1st place & another trophy!

Fortunately for us, Cody's boss (also his cousin) gives away Texas Rangers' tickets! We have gone twice this summer. This time, we got 4 tickets so we took Olivia & her boyfriend. It was a lot of fun :)

 Sookie, our 5 month old great dane, has gotten HUGE! Actually, huge is an understatement. She is about 70 pounds and growing more & more every day. She is the biggest baby I know though & truly thinks she's a lap dog. Ouch. My legs have bruises to prove this.

As for me, I'm still exercising and eating healthier. Today actually marks 185 days of it! I am so beyond proud of myself. I definitely have hard days & I still don't eat as healthy as I should but every day is a work in progress. I am not determined to be skinny- I'm determined to be healthy. My favorite food these days: Chobani Greek yogurt with all natural vanilla granola. Yum yum yum. And it is so filling! Lately, every morning the kids & I go outside for around 30-45 minutes to walk, run, pull them around in the wagon, or swing. It helps me kick start my day. I should actually go pop in a DVD since I just realized Avery is snoozing away on the couch. Today is a legs day & I'm totally dreading it.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. Xoxo

Meagan

Where Did May Go?

No, really. Where did it go? Between my school ending for the summer, me getting (then quitting) a new job, yard work, birthdays, baseball practice and birthdays I've missed it. Hm, where to start?

I'll start by updating my fitness progress. I'm now around 129 and have never felt better. I'm consuming about 100 calories more than I was last month at this time because I'm satisified (for the most part- what woman is ever TRULY statisfied?) with where I'm at and am now mainly focusing on maintaining this healthy weight & staying toned & fit. I'm almost done with the Turbo Fire dvd set I started a while back & am contemplating what to do next.

I finished up this semester in college with 4 A's and one B (this B I am however very proud of considering it was my first online class and it was PHYSICS!) I am looking forward to having the summer off with the kiddos. I am looking into a job at Hunter's school so that I can be off when he is off & won't have to worry about daycare for him.

 Cody brought home a new dog a couple of months ago, Sookie. I don't remember if I've mentioned her before on my Blog or not. But that is her, a few weeks ago. She's almost 50 pounds now! And doing a lot better.

 Mother's day was nice. We went to Cody's grandma's house in Fort Worth and spent time with family. Then surprised my mom by coming by her house.

 Cody finally got me to go hunting with him. So Saturday, I tagged along with him and his cousin's husband. They shot this hog but made me take a picture with one of their guns (scary ha ha). But I had a lot of fun & all that hiking was great exercise!

 Today is Hunter's last day of first grade. He is a little upset about it. He got to school early this morning to give his teacher, Mrs. Stinson, her present and to get one last picture with her.

Speaking of Hunter, I have to brag. Yesterday, I attended his award ceremony. He was one of the "Top Readers" reading over 220 books this year. (Please keep in mind, he started 1st grade as a not-so-confident slower reader & is now Mr. Speedy. Also, each book he reads he had to take a test on.) He got a certificate for his reading and a tshirt (which he wore today). He got all A's on his report card all year long. I'm so proud of him. I cannot believe I'm going to have a 2nd grader!!

Avery- oh Avery. She is a bundle of "joy". She has so much energy and already knows how to get her way. She is something else. She is talking up a storm and never stops. We're still working on potty training but that's okay. We'll get there!

Now, if Avery would just lay down for a nap I could go outside & enjoy that pool.
:)
Meagan

My Weight Loss progress

I decided to journal a little bit about my progress. Let's see. I've been dieting for about 100 days now. I have an app on my phone that I use everyday to log in my food and exercises. It's called MyFitnessPal. I started out eating about 1350 calories a day. Now I'm at about 1200-1250.

I do some sort of exercise every day. I walk a lot outside while the kids are playing. I also pull them around in their wagon (boy is that hard work!!) I do some Pilates & Yoga occassionally. And P90X when I feel like dying ha! But my main work out is called Turbo Fire. It is awesome! I reccommend it for everyone!! It's a combination of boxing and cardio and a little bit of dance. It is so much fun, burns a ton of a calories, and makes me feel so good!

I can sit here and say that it has drastically changed my body! I started at 146 pounds (my heaviest) and now I'm at 131. I haven't measured myself in a while (need to do that tonight) but I am losing inches too. I started at a 12 and now fit into 6! (Which I personally, don't care about all these numbers, I just wanted to feel better about myself.) But I'm telling you guys this to show that changes can happen if you stick with it!

I bought my first bikini in almost 3 years! Yes, there are still areas that need toning (us girls are never 100% satisfied are we?) But I am here to tell ya, I haven't felt this good in years.

Here are a few things I love eating:
1. Greek Yogurt Parfaits (non-fat), Strawberry, 110 calories! (come with granola to mix, yum!)
2. Special K Protein Meal Replacement bars, Double Choclate, 170 calories (this helps my chocolate cravings. I usually eat one for breakfast with some good old Orange Juice).
3. Special K Protein Snack bars, Chocolate Peanut butter, 110 calories (great for between meal snacks).
4. Chicken! Looooveeee chicken! It's so good for you!
5. Water, water, water!

((now this is by no means all that I eat, it's just some of my faves)) I am still eating junk foods sometimes, just not as much! Portion control! I know you have all heard it before, but seriously. It's ok to eat those Oreos- but just eat 2. It's ok to have some pizza- have one slice! :)

Hope this inspired some people!

-Meagan

Hello strangers out there in Blog world! We have been super busy lately and I haven't had a second to update my blog! I'm outside now writing this- this is what I imagine Heaven to be like... a good story to write, the wind blowing slightly through my hair, and my kids laughing in the distance running through the green grass.

 It's Easter time and the weather is getting warmer. We've already had a few bad storms up here in Ardmore, but not bad enough to huddle down in the storm shelter yet. We've seen new creatures lately, turkeys especially, every morning in our yard. We hear "gobble gobble" from a short distance all day long. Sometimes they are brave enough to prance through our yard, then usually get chased away by our ferocious Yorkie, Roxy.

I'm still trudging through school, my second semester at our local college. I feel like a senior again in high school with "senioritis" in other words, I-don't-feel-like-doing-anything-itis.

Hunter is reading so well. A few months ago, he was moved up in the highest level reading class. He loves reading and loves books. Just the other day his school was having a book fair and that was the highlight of his year! (Momma spent way too much, but it's for a good case, huh?) He signed up for baseball again this year which we cannot wait for!

Avery- oh, Avery... she's got a full on personality. She's sassy, girlie but such a tomboy, sweet, nurturing, tough all rolled up into one package. We are still trying to figure her out haha! She has made a lot of progress using the potty (however, we aren't totally there yet) but that's ok.

This passed weekend, we took the kids down to Texas and met up with Hunter's aunt who took some pictures for me of the kids in the bluebonnets. I loved all 37 of them, but of course, coudln't post them all on here. Plus, I'm pretty biased considering I think my children are the most gorgeous human beings on the face of the Earth ;)

 

That's it for today. I must go round up Avery who has done at least 12 laps around the house on her new battery-powered 4-wheeler. When I stop hearing it, that's when there is trouble... oh wait, here she comes ha! Goodbye for now. Will update more, I promise :)

-Meagan & the wild ones

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Blog world: 

I hope everyone had wonderful Holidays! We surely did. Last I wrote, the kiddos were preparing for Christmas. We visited Santa, much to Avery's dismay and started decorating our house. 

Santa was good to the kids this year. *Even though we all know he was a little too nice ;) Hunter got his first rifle- yes a real one. And he's learning all safety precautions and all the fancy things about a gun. Cody has been a good, patient teacher and he's loved shooting it himself too. Avery is on Barbie and baby doll overload! She gives them baths, does their hair, feeds them, sleeps with them... they go everywhere!

 Cody and I got to drive up to Norman for a day/night and get some good old fashioned alone time (without kids). We don't get that kind of time hardly ever so it was very nice to get to go and be adults. We treated ourselves to a gourmet Olive Garden meal (yes, that's gourmet for us haha) complete with adult drinks and dessert, we went shopping without chasing after kids or hearing, "Mama, my feet hurt. Can you carry me?" or "Mama, I want that!", and we saw a movie. Had a great time! 

January means back to school for this mama. I went yesterday and bought my books and I start school on Thursday. Even though it's my second semester, I'm kind of anxious. I hate the whole "Let's get to know each other" on the first days of school. I'd much rather get to the learning part. I'm a dork, I know. 

We started eating healthier and working out as our little resolution. It's a lot easier when Cody is doing it with me instead of me suffering while he indulged on the good stuff like last year. We are going to stick to it, as hard as it gets, because we want to get healthier and back into shape. 

Well, that's all the updates in the Baetz household for today. Hope everyone is sticking to their resolutions! Have a good few weeks. Chat with y'all later!

It's Beginning to Look A lot Like Christmas!

First of all, Merry Christmas everyone! We have been so busy over here at the Baetz house with finals, shopping, school, parties, and birthdays. The kids absolutely loved putting the Christmas tree up! It was Avery's first real time to be able to hang ornaments and stuff, so they had a lot of fun. I am happy to say that most of the presents have endured the kids and pets, although, we've had a few casualties. (Like Avery taking it upon herself to open some- thankfully her's, or the dog jumping on the window when the UPS guy comes crushing them with his mighty paws- which happens a lot here, or when the cat decides a different present is comfier than the one he found last night to lay on...)

We had our first "snow". Which Hunter was so disappointed that school wasn't cancelled! And it only lasted a few hours. But it sure was pretty and put us right in the Holiday spirit.

 We had our first company Holiday party with Cody's work. It was a lot of fun. We look forward to many, many more parties with "Hunter Heat & Air" and are so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful company. 

 Avery just keeps growing and growing (I know, I know, they're supposed to do that!) But I wasn't prepared *and still am not* for her turning two this month. It's gone by so fast! It's amazing how much more she absorbs and can say now. 

 We celebrated her 2nd birthday by having a little "cowgirl" themed party. We had a horse for all the kiddos to ride (and some of the adults), we decorated cowboy/cowgirl hats, and ate delicious snacks & cake. She LOVED riding the "neigh- neigh" and still talks about it. She got her first pair of cowgirl boots for her birthday from her great-grandma among many other presents: baby dolls, stuffed animals, and horses. 

 We sneaked away for a family picture. This is what was sent in our Christmas card this year. 

 But the highlight of December-in my opinion- has to be the kids' picture with Santa this year. It was pretty funny. On the way there, we had a blow out, fixed the tire, and still made it to see Santa. I made sure to keep telling Avery who he was and what he brings good little girls. Once we got to the mall, we watched other kids sit with Santa. Once it was our turn, I told Hunter to keep smiling no matter what Avery did. And he did just that. She was not having it. But it sure does make for good memories. Now, anytime the word "Santa" comes up, she says, "No, no, Santa!"... Let's just hope next year won't be as traumatic. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas Holiday! I will try to update sooner than later.

-Meagan

A's, Terrible Two's & Pumpkin Patches

I know I always say this, but man oh man- how did November get here so fast?! With my school, Hunter's school, Avery starting her terrible two's, and animals galore, I've hardly noticed October! 

Hunter is doing great in school, bringing home A's and "Excellent" papers. He has a best friend, Joey. They are inseparable and so cute! 

Avery, like I said, has hit her TERRIBLE 2's. And boy are they terrible!! She enjoys screaming, yelling, running from me, hitting, more screaming, etc. I can't keep up  ha ha. I cannot believe she'll be 2 in a month! I need to start planning her b-day party, any ideas?

October highlights: We went with my mom to the Pumpkin Patch, kids dressed up as Jack Sparrow & a ladybug as Halloween, and I started another round of a 6 week class at school. 

Hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather, I am! Enjoy your November too because these months are passing way too quickly. 

-Meagan :)