Calling All Christian Moms!

Hey my other mommy friends! I am really curious - what is your daily devotion / quite time / time with the Lord like? Do you have a devotional you read? Do you read the Bible? Do you study topically or my book (of the Bible)? Do you listen to worship music (like me)? Do you listen to online sermons? When do you have your quiet time? How do you make that a priority over 'getting things done'? How much time to you spend in the Word, daily? I am soooo curious about how other mommies do it. I tend to mix it up. I love listening to sermons online, turn off the tv and turn on worship music, read a devotional + the scripture it recommends, prayer journal (occassionally) etc. Let me know your style of quiet time. I love getting ideas!!!

What to Write About....

As most of my posts tend to be, this one is going to be random. Just a mish-mash of my thoughts. Hence the name of my blog, so glad I titled it, "Welcome to Britney's Thoughts"! I have not blogged for a while. I've been struggling a lot with feeling not creative enough. I really enjoy blogging, and have plenty of things I like to write about. But I have a hard time not comparing my blog to others who are SO fun to read. That's part of it, the other is, as soon as I sit down to write, Ruby needs me. I find myself getting frustrated that she just happens to need me when I am about to write about her. Every single time I need to remind myself that she is my #1. I have mentally beat myself up for not keeping better records of everything she does, complete with beautiful photos to go with it. I am already behind in her baby book and the journal I started when I was pregnant. I haven't written out all my thoughts and prayers for my little girl, and I have gotten very frustrated with myself. I just want to have amazing records and memories to look back on down the road. THEN I remember that what is most important for me is to tend to her rather than write about her. ...well that was honest... Another thing I want to write about, which is also brutally honest, is my weight loss journey! I have a couple of friends with blogs specifically about their weight loss progress, and I LOVE reading their updates. If and when I blog about my weight loss, I will be vague. :) Never ever writing my actual weight numbers. So, here I go! I gained 20 pounds within 4 months of marriage. I worked hard to get fit for my wedding, then let loose when I got married. Really didn't want to 'let myself go,' but it was so dang easy. Especially with a husband who loves me unconditionally. ;) Ok, so after 4 months of marriage we found ourselves pregnant - yay! Like I said, I was up 20 pounds from wedding weight until then. I should've gained around 35 pounds with my pregnancy, but no, I gained 50! That was not all because of my baby, I'll tell you that. It was fall and Christmas time when I started putting on the weight. I loved baking and making homemade candy. OF COURSE I had to taste it all along the way. Yikes. So, when I was at the end of pregnancy I had gained 70 pounds since we got married. H.O.L.Y. C.R.A.P. Ok, so I weighed myself the day after I gave birth and I had lost 35 pounds from delivering Ruby. Yahoo! That seemed pretty cool... THEN our amazing friends and family spoiled us with delicious postpartum food which helped me gain 4-or-so pounds back. K.

one week before my wedding

beginning of April 2011 - our April Fools joke, when really we were just about to become pregnant - SURPRISE

last week of pregnancy - 70 pounds heavier than the first photo! 6 weeks after Ruby was born, Brian and I decided to join Weight Watchers together. I have the most wonderful husband. I love him for supporting me by doing it with me. Although the main reason is because he gained some baby weight too. :) So, when I joined WW, I had 19 pounds until pre-pregnancy weight, and a total of 39 pounds until wedding weight (ultimate goal). Here I am, 13 weeks after joining WW and I am down about 15 1/2 pounds! I am so happy. There have only been two weeks that I've gained weight, and it's been less than a pound each time. Slow and steady.:) So I am about 4 1/2 pounds away from pre-pregnancy weight! 24 1/2 pounds away from wedding weight. I am really encouraged. I love WW, I used the program after YWAM when I put on a ton of weight from traveling, and did GREAT. Then I did WW again the 4 months leading up to my wedding. I did great again. I know I can rely on this program and still have the freedom to eat my own food - not their brand. Listen, yes, this is personal stuff. I am semi-sensitive about talking about my weight, but I am posting this for myself. I am using this as a tool to keep myself accountable, and I hope that it encourages you, my friends, also. PHEW - that was a long post. And it was only about 2 topics. But I think I'm done writing for now. I'll post more thoughts soon, hopefully. My Ruby is going to get up any moment so it's time for me to sign off. Thank you, dear friends, for reading. I love you all.