3 months for the Miles Man

Miles just keeps growing despite my pleas with him to stay tiny for just a bit longer :) Can you believe its been 3 months already? Its all flying by and taking forever at the same time, those of you with kids probably know exactly what I'm talking about.

The Miles Man is doing great. He doesn't have a doctor's appointment until 4 months so I don't know exactly how big he is, but I do know he is growing by all the baby clothes he keeps going through. He's not a huge baby, but he is long and he gives off a big vibe. He's been eating and sleeping great. For about 3 weeks or so he's been going 8-10 hours for his first stretch at night and then goes back down for 3-4 hours which has been awesome. It would be more awesome if I went to bed at a decent hour more often than I am, but I do when I can and its been nice to get more than a couple of hours before getting up.

As for what he's been up to? Lot's of smiles and laughs! He is starting to "chat" with me too. We have had more than a few times of back and forth cooing, laughing, smiling, and just making noises at each other. It's been a lot of fun and he's starting to do it with the Jake, Brenden, and Rylan too which is lots of fun. He's also able to sit up on his own if he's leaning forward with his hands on the bed or sofa. And he's busy moving his arms and legs around during tummy time, he just needs to figure out how to push off the floor and he'll be crawling in no time. I'm guessing he'll be like the others and crawling in the 4-6 month range, although with all of the hardwood in the house it could be longer after if he starts hitting his head on the floor - we'll hope that doesn't happen too much :)

So basically the boy is doing great! And we are all enjoying our little Miles :)

Weekly Weigh In: Week 7

Week 7

Weight: 146.0

Weekly Loss: +0.4

Overall Total: 5.4

Yup, another gain. Boooo! But its actually better than I thought it was going to be, not because I ate horribly or didn't work out. I just happened to get on the scale a few other times over the week and noticed things were yo-yoing. For 3 days I watched the number on the scale climb up and now for the past couple of days I have seen it steadily come down. Hopefully, it will continue to come down. I have been working out almost everyday and eating about the same, at least I don't think/feel like I"ve done anything different with my diet. However, I'm pretty sure Miles has had a growth spurt and that would affect my milk production so that could have had an impact on the rest of my body. Who knows, I'm just trying to stay optimistic. I'm still fitting into one of my larger pre-pregnancy pairs of jeans and my legs look like they're getting in better shape from all of the running so those are are two HUGE things going my way. And I'm really looking forward to trying some of the classes at the gym next week to stake things up a bit.

So I'll just keep plugging along and hope this trend changes and the scale starts to reflect all of the work I've been doing!

1 year in Cincinnati

That's right, its been a year! Can you believe it? Now it won't be an actual year until Friday, but I thought it fitting to write about it now since we started the year with Easter just 3 days after moving in and now we will close out the year with Easter just 5 days before one year.

I think if you've been keeping up with this blog or me on Facebook you'll know that since our move the Eby family hasn't missed a beat. We have been happy and felt comfortable from day one. And thinking back to when Chris told me in our first year or two together that we might have to move to Cincinnati, I never thought that would have been the case.

I pretty much told him no way we would move to Cincinnati. I said anywhere else in Ohio, even Columbus, would be better than Cincinnati. I had a very misleading image in my mind of what Cincinnati was based on coming here when I was around 13 for a dive meet. I could not have been more wrong because now I'm so happy we're here. Everything has just fallen into place so nicely and its felt like this is where we are supposed to be. I do miss Michigan from time to time, but that has more to do with missing people and restaurants not my day to day living.

We love our home and we have done lots over the past year to make it ours. We could not have asked for better neighbors. They have welcomed us from day one and have become wonderful friends. Rylan has even tried to weasel her way into their family by running away a few times and making herself at home at dinner time :) The kids have enjoyed their new school and friends. Work has been good for Chris. And I'm happy coaching my new team. I couldn't have asked for more!

So Happy 1st Year to the Eby Family and looking forward to many more!

Wednesday Weigh In: Week 6

Week 6

Weight: 145.6

Week Total: +0.2

Overall Total: 5.8

So the week I've been expecting/dreading has arrived. After having such good losses over the past couple of weeks I figured I was due for a standstill or gain. I'm just glad is was more of standstill than a full gain of a pound or more. I'm also pretty sure this was largely  due to the large amounts of beer I consumed watching basketball last weekend :) My body is also probably getting bored with only treadmill and elliptical workouts. I'm hoping to change things up a bit in April once I'm done teaching my group swim lessons everyday. There are tons of group exercise classes where I work and I'm hoping to try 2-3 of them for something new. And hopefully spring will arrive and we can spend more time outside playing - this weather is killing me, I thought I moved out of Michigan! Anyway, I'll just keep plugging away at the workouts and maybe have a few less beers this weekend - or maybe not and I'll just add another workout :)

Wednesday Weigh In: Week 5

Week 5

Weight: 145.4

Weekly Total: 1.4

Overall Total: 6.0

VERY pleased with this week! I was a little worried that traveling would mean a slide in the wrong direction, but it seems I behaved myself :) Miles was a champ while we were gone and slept great (even better than at home), I was able to go for a walk on Friday in place of my regular workout, and I did a good job of staying away from the fattening snacks at the pool and brought my own instead. All that seems to add up to continuing weight loss. I have another meet in a few weeks and hopefully I'll have the same success. I'm also on track to be around 140lbs for our trip to San Diego and 135lbs for Jamaica - both would be GREAT!

Time to keep motivated and keep the pounds coming off!

Wednesday Weigh In: week 4

Week 4

Weight: 146.8

Weekly Total: 2.8

Overall Total: 4.6 lbs

Like I didn't get discouraged last week with only a 0.2 loss, I'm trying not to get too excited about a 2.8 loss. Don't get me wrong, I was all smiles when I looked at the scale this morning, but I also know I shouldn't expect to see that kind of loss over one week again. And especially not next week since I'm traveling this weekend to a dive meet and will have Miles with me. I expect to be eating and sleeping like crap and probably won't have a chance to get any workouts.

What I am trying to take out of this big week is that I'm on the right track. I can see and feel differences in my body, I'm starting to recognize it again :) And I'm starving all the time now, and doing my best to grab a handful of trail mix or carrots instead of Oreos to fill me up.

So I'll just keep at it and hope it keeps going as well as it has been!

Note: I will continue to post my weekly weigh in because it helps to keep me accountable and motivated. However, I'll probably only put the link up on Facebook once a month. So if you want to keep up with how I'm doing weekly, you'll have to come to the blog on your own.

2 months!? Really!?

No matter if you have one kid or 4 kids its always the same story - Where does the time go!? Miles had his 2 month check up yesterday and he is doing great, but I still can't believe how quick the time moves. He will be 10 weeks in 2 days! Seriously, where does the time go??? Its not like I've been sleeping, I've been awake for nearly all of it ;)

Anyway, since his one month check up he's grown 2 inches and gained 2 lbs 3 oz, putting him at 24 inches long and 11 lbs 14 oz. I was actually surprised he didn't weigh more because he's a great eater and really solid kid. He just feels heavy even though I can see that he's not too chubby. He is the first baby of mine to break the 50th percentile for weight (he's around the 60th percentile) and he's right with Rylan and Brenden in length around the 90th percentile. The most important thing is he's growing and happy :)

As for the rest of the family we've been quite busy as well and its only going to get busier as the weather warms up. Here's a little run down for you:

-We signed Rylan up for Preschool and she will do 3 afternoons a week starting in the fall

-Jake, Brenden, and Rylan had a successful trip to the dentist with no cavities for anyone and it looks like Brenden will be losing some teeth soon as you could see his lower teeth coming up on his x-rays.

-I've been teaching swim lessons 4 days a week so Rylan and Miles have been going to the daycare at the HealthPlex for about 2 hours a day. Its been a nice break for me and the little ones seem to enjoy it.

-Rylan has given up her pacifier. The dentist had a nice talk with her about it and she promptly came home and threw them in the garbage and hasn't had a problem, fingers crossed that holds!

-We have had my dad and brother visit. Chris's dad will be here this week and my mom will be here this weekend while Chris and I are both gone for work

-Miles and I will be going to Bloomington, IN this weekend for a dive meet - I'm hoping for lots of help from parents of my current and former team to help make this work!

-Chris and I will be traveling to San Diego in May for work for Chris and Jamaica in June for a family wedding. And the trip to Jamaica will be completely kid free! YAY!

-I'm on a mission to get back in shape and lose this baby weight - I've done a couple of blog posts about it, so far its going pretty good.

-The boys start soccer next month

-Miles is smiling. He thinks his brothers and the ceiling fan are the funniest things to smile and laugh at :)

-Rylan has mastered the terrible two's and scaring me for what she'll  be like when she's a hormonal teenager....I kid....no I don't, she's a crazy girl and all over the place with her moods, fun times for sure!

-Jake and Brenden have been FABULOUS big brothers. They are especially big helpers when Chris is out of town helping with Miles and Rylan so I can get things done around the house.

-Miles' sleeping habits had been all over the place until about a week ago. He's now going 6-7 hours at the beginning of the night and then goes back down for 3-4 hours. So its down around 7:30p, up between 2-2:30a, and back up around 6a, not too bad for 2 months old. The hardest is the inconsistency at 6am, sometimes its earlier and you never know if he's going to go back to sleep. He always seems like he's going to, but may be up 20 minutes later.

So that's all I can think of at this point. I'm sure I've missed some things we've done and things we're going to be doing, but that's what happens when you're averaging 5-6 hours TOTAL of broken sleep :)


A few pics of Miles at 2 months old

And of course Ry needed a picture too!