Working on myself...

Over the last couple of months i have began working on myself in many different aspects of my life. It started with weight and soon followed health. I wasnt going on a diet i was changing my health, changing my eating habits. Its all a lifestyle change. I have lost 13 lbs in my journey so far and i still have a way to go but i have learned so much not only about nutrition but also about myself and how my body works. Its all about finding the balance that works best for you. My main inspiration for losing the weight , which im sure you all know , is baby number 2. Oh how i long for baby number 2. I cant wait for the day when i have reached my goals weight and health wise so that i can start trying for my 2nd precious miracle. It will take time but i will get there. 

My health has improved so much already... My blood pressures have gone from 140-150 over 85-95 to (last time i checked) 113/79!! I cant tell you all what a relief it was to see those normal healthy numbers again. My heart rate has slowed as well. There were times when my resting heart rate was in the 90s, thats pretty scary!!  

I decided it was time for a change, so i made one, and then another, and i keep looking for ways to improve myself not only physically but emotionally as well. Im trying to be the best mother and wife that i can be. 

I decided it was time to go back to school to make a better future for myself and for my family. It all happened rather quick really, one day i thought about it , next morning i decided to go for it, enrolled, a few days later registered and i start classes for my associates of applied science degree in allied health on August 25.. My focus as of right now will be medical assistant and patient care technician. I am super excited but nervous to be going to back to school and hope that i have what it takes to make it through!! 

It has always been a dream of mine to work in a hospital. I just love the atmosphere and everything about it and i am FINALLY going to make it happen. So heres to 2 years of major life transformations and a better, healthier future!! 

Weight Loss Goals & Baby #2

I have been ready mentally and emotionally to start trying for baby #2 since Jace was about a year old. I knew that we couldnt just start trying like "normal" couples would. My health in my last pregnancy and my current health are preventing that. Since having Jace i managed to put on around 60 lbs. I think its a combination of Zoloft and PCOS that caused this massive weight gain. I currently off Zoloft (finally)! 

I set a goal for myself so lose 57 lbs before we would start trying for baby number 2. This would put me 5 lbs below my pre pregnancy weight. I have 50 more lbs to go and it all just seems so far away! I have been working very hard this last couple of weeks and have lost about 7 lbs so far. 

I need to get myself in the best shape possible for this next pregnancy. I have several risks such as gestational diabetes, Severe Preeclampisa and HELLP syndrome. While there is no way for me to prevent these things from happening completely, i can reduce some of the risk factors. 

My motivation is strong. I am determined to have one more child and to give Jace a brother or sister to grow up with. It means the world to me, so here i go on my journey to a better, healthier me!! 

Hi my name is Brittany....

And i am a SLACKER! I totally fell of the bloggin' wagon! Life has a way of becoming absolutely chaotic in spurts. I am here though and fully intend on becoming my usual blogger self again shortly. I am currently sorting out a few ...erm.. situations that are taking up all my mental time haha! I hope everyone is well and hasnt forgot about my site :P 

6 Year anniversary!

6 years ago today, Geromy and i got up and got hitched. Yup, we said screw the wedding lets just do it. So we did. The stress of planning the wedding and the cost etc just got to me too much of a pain. Sadly, I do not have any pictures of this as it was as quick and simple as it could get. I do regret not getting any pictures taken that day, even if it was just one. 

We have talked about having a wedding on on of our anniversaries in the future and i think we will.

Our marriage has not always been an easy adventure, we had our problems and our ups and downs but here we are. With time came progress. Changes did not happen over night. They happened over time. We have grown so much as individuals as well as a couple. I believe that we have made a positive impact on each others lives in so many different ways. We are better people because we came together and fought through the hard times and showed each other the way to a happier and healthier life.

We are far from perfect, we have a lot of learning to do still. We have our fights, we have our faults. We are still continuing to grow , together.

Our family together is not quite complete but i know one day it will be. Together we have created the greatest blessing of all, our son Jace. He has brought so much happiness and joy into our lives, thank you for helping me to achieve that dream!

 We dont have it all together in life just yet but i know we will. Life is a journey and im glad to be sharing mine with you, Geromy. I love you and i look forward to many more years of laughing, crying, struggling, excelling, growing, annoying you and being annoyed at you. I know there is nothing that we can not get through. We are strong. Happy 6th anniversary. <3

Retraction of previous statement

There comes a point in everyones lives when they say the wrong thing, im at that point. LOL In my last post regarding the honest company diapers i said that i believed they were giving Jace a rash. I was proven wrong tonight when he started scratching at the same area again after being in a completely different diaper brand for over 24 hours. So im thrilled that it wasnt the diapers but clueless as to what is causing it! Yay for being able to continue with the honest diapers. 

I had emailed The Honest Co earlier today and they got back with me rather quickly, They sincerely apologized about the diaper issue and also is sending me a free bottle of their dish soap. This company has the best customer service team i have ever seen! Way to go Honest Co! 

Another honest review about the Honest Co.

Let me first start off by saying that i love the honest company. There are so many great things about them and their products. As you all know, i ordered their bundles a few weeks ago with every intention of switching out the diapers wipes and most products in my home. I am sad to report that the diapers gave Jace a rash the whole time he was wearing them (we just stopped about 24 hours ago) he was itching to the point (in a certain spot) that he was leaving a couple small scabs. Why didnt i stop use of the diapers right away? A couple reasons really. 1) I didnt think it was from the diapers. I thought he had just managed to get some irritation and since he wouldnt leave it alone , it didnt go away quickly. 2) I used several different things such as , lotion, powder, healing balm and coconut oil on it to try to get it to go away. It did not. As much as i wanted it to and as much as i thought it would, it didnt. Now i want to also say that this was not a horrible rash, not like you would typically see in an allergic reaction to a diaper, this was more of a constant irritation of that area. So the day before yesterday i gave in, sucked it up and stopped use of the diapers and the rash is going away. I love their wipes and will still continue to use them as often as i can. 

Now onto the dish soap. Normally we use the regular blue Dawn dish soap. We pay about 3 dollars for a pretty big bottle and that will last us over a month! Its great soap but i figured i might as well completely make the change. I was a bit put off at first by the price of the Honest company dish soap but since it was going into a bundle i went ahead with it. At first i thought it was great, it smelled great , no harsh ingredients etc. Well its been about a week and the whole bottle is almost gone because it doesnt seem to go very far at all meaning we have to use a lot more to get the job done. So needless to say, we will be going back to pampers and dawn. They may not be the best thing out there in terms of chemicals and such but they have always worked for us!

I am still going to continue to use their other products like the dish scrubber, the body wash, lotion, hair mist, hand sanitzer etc. :) 

Disclaimer - These are my personal experiences and thoughts on the Honest Co products, results may vary from person to person , this is just meant to be informational.

Sugaring, Sugar wax Part 2

So the other day i made my first batch of all natural sugar wax as you saw in part one. I learned a couple of thins during this process

After i waited the couple hours for the wax to sit and cool i tried to use it only to find out, this crap is too hard to use! So, i popped it in the microwave and grabbed a butter knife and spread some on my arm. owwwwwwwww yup, it burnt me bad LOL i have a blister from this battle. So im like great, I messed it all up. So i threw it away and decided to make yet another batch thinking i overcooked the first batch. 

I waited for it to cool and it was just a tiny bit softer but still couldnt use it. Thinking i messed it up AGAIN i set out on a google search thinking to myself, this wax is supposed to be a cool thick wax and just automatically stick and pull the hairs out. WRONG

You have to put the container in hot boiling water and SLOWLY melt the wax down to a good, spreadable consistency. 

It really does work. Its not like your typical wx though. In some places you may need to go over that spot 2 or 3 times but it also doesnt rip your skin off in the process so the extra time is worth it! 

Whats in the easter basket?

 Whats in Jace's Easter Basket(s)

I always see a lot of posts from parents wondering what to put in their childs easter basket and asking for ideas so i thought i would share what we put in Jaces basket this year. He is 18 months old. 

Jaces Basket from us.

We found this at wal mart , sooo cute!

Ellas Kitchen Organic oat fingers, Jace loves these!

Little People Person

Skip hop book! 

Some eggs filled with Kit Kats and Reeces peanut butter cups

Jaces easter basket from Grandpa

Happy Easter Everyone!!

Sugaring - All natural sugar wax - Part 1

As most of you know , I have PCOS. One of the most unpleasant symptoms of PCOS is excess body hair, Particularly on the face. For me, i get a lot of hair in unwanted places and it sucks to say the least. So a couple of days ago i was searching google for hair removal techniques. I was tired of trying to pluck a whole lot of hairs, was tired of the harsh wax , shaving is pointless, i came across something called "Sugaring". At first i was like yeah right, how could that possibly work. I kept watching you tube videos of people making their own wax at home with all natural ingredients and getting awesome results with it. So today i decided, why not, ill give it a try. So here is my part one of Sugaring. 

What you will need:

2 cups of sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice - can be fresh squeezed or store bought- Just make sure to take the seeds out of the juice.

1/4 cup water

small pot

What you will do is :

 pour the sugar into the pan

add lemon juice

add water 

turn stove onto med heat (about a 4)

DONT STOP STIRRING

At first it will be hard to stir , but stir it up and get it mixed. At this point it will be thick and white. After about 5 -7 minutes it should start bubbling if not, turn the heat up JUST A LITTLE BIT. Keep stirring, 10 minutes or so after you FIRST turned the heat on, take it off the stove and check the color, the color you will see when its done is a medium to darkish golden brown. (around 10 or 11 minutes it should be a yellowish color) if it is not yet golden brown keep cooking and stirring. Remember to check the color often because you dont want to burn it , it will not be any good if you do. It took mine about 18 mins total to turn that golden brown color. 

Once it is done, Pour it into a container ( i would recommend glass) and let it sit for about 2 or 3 hours. At this point its still hot and thin. 

Rinse the pan out immediately with HOT water and let it soak off any excess sugar. 

This is what mine looked like right after i poured it into the glass bowl...

Benefits of sugar waxing

Exfoliates skin

Natural ingredients

Cleans off easy

Part 2 coming soon! - The results!

Throw-Back Thursday

Quail Lake June 15, 2010

Life & Chaos!

Blogger Fail. Yes, i know. I have been so incredibly busy with everything lately and blogging has just slipped my mind. Im hoping that now that things have STARTED to settle down i will be able to catch back up. So whats been going on? Well lets see....

We had family in town from Idaho for a few days, lots of kids = Lots of chaos!

Still getting a routine down with my new job while trying to get Jace adjusted.

Preparing for my 2nd upcoming job that i am super excited about (see more below)

Went to the zoo with my moms group

I had a Easter potluck & Egg hunt for my Colorado Springs Moms Group

Jace is sick, AGAIN!

Family In Town

Jace had not met his cousins or his uncle so this was super exciting! We were able to have all (but one) kids over night last weekend. I hadnt seen them in so long, it was a lot of fun! We also went to a get together with them and had some great food. Heres some pictures 

( DISCLAIMER - This car is parked, in a parking lot, NO ONE was driving kids around like this, LOL )

Upcoming 2nd Job

In the beginning of May, I will officially be a Lemongrass Spa Consultant! I am super excited about this. I am very happy to have found 2 great opportunities that allow me to still be a stay at home mom! For more information on Lemongrass Spa 

www.lemongrassspa.com

https://www.facebook.com/BrittanysLemongrass

Trip to the zoo!

I took Jace & Sami to the zoo with some ladies from my moms group, it was awsome. I love the cheyenne mountain zoo , it is gorgeous!

CSM 2014 Easter Potluck & Egg Hunt

Now im off to finish dinner, But with in the next couple days ill put up the complete review of THE HONEST COMPANY products! Hope you all had a great weekend.