I Can Do This Despite My Hormones!

I am feeling so much better since I have tried to regain control of my life. I have been eating healthy now for 13 days, and I haven't gained any more weight!!! I had been gaining 2 lbs. per week already. That is just ridiculous. My calories are now coming from things like avocados and nuts instead of taquitos and cereal. I am feeling good!


Since moving into a bigger house earlier this month, I have been so overwhelmed with how in the world to keep it clean. I have tried many, many times in my married life to execute a cleaning schedule, but it never happened until this week. I made a plan and I actually stuck to it. Here we are on Friday and my house is tidy! This is so unlike me!(Especially pregnant, might I add. Pregnant me does nothing).


Next week Mollie and I are going on a trip to Florida and Georgia to visit my parents and Whitney and to celebrate Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw's 80th birthdays. I am so excited for the break from the norm and to see my family. I wish I could take Sam with me, too. He asked me yesterday, "Can I come with you to see Maw-Maw on the airpwane?" Poor little buddy. If only 3 year-olds flew for free. But, I think the break will be good for us. I haven't been Sam's favorite person lately, so maybe longing will make his little heart grow fonder. Plus, a little one-on-one time for me and Mollie will be a good thing since she will no longer be the baby in 3 short months.

I love my sweet little kids. I can't believe there will be 3 of them soon. Scary.

Taking Control

Chubby Al, here. I am now 25 weeks pregnant and have gained just shy of 40 lbs.

Each time I am pregnant I feel control slipping away from me. It starts initially because I feel nauseated constantly and the only thing that sounds good or stays down are of course starchy, sugary carbohydrates. By the time I feel better, I am hooked and am getting plumper by the day.

I told myself it was going to be different this time, that I would exercise and keep up my healthy eating habits, yet, here I am again finding myself in the same situation; tired and hungry and feeding. Always. I started praying about it, asking for motivation to be restored to me, asking for some remnant of my normal-brained self to surface.

This past Saturday it happened. For some reason I woke up feeling like I wanted to eat healthy foods instead of the cereal I had been enjoying each morning. Easter came and I didn't even eat one piece of the kids' candy. Here we are at Thursday and I am still going strong. (In past pregnancies I have been motivated for one or two meals and that's it. This 5-day streak is a big deal).

I am not trying to lose weight. I know I am pregnant and I know that weight gain is inevitable. What I am trying to do is to keep it under control. I don't need to gain 70+ lbs. again this pregnancy.



I love that our Heavenly Father cares about the stuff we care about and is waiting to help. He's the best.

My Girl

Mollie turned 18 months old this week. Half birthdays are a big deal to me when kids are this small. 6 months makes a big difference.

Since I'm pregnant and do nothing now I didn't make her a video like I wanted to, but let me just say, Mollie is the sweetest thing. She is independent but at the same time loves to be held. A lot. She loves food and thankfully eats healthy things (unlike my picky boy Sam and his daddy). She's starting to stand up to Sam. Just this morning she stole a toy he was playing with and ran away as fast as her little legs could go until he finally caught her and stole it back.

I love my Mollie girl.

20 Weeks and Life Update

I am 20 weeks today! We are halfway there! I have already gained 27 lbs. Yes I said TWENTY-SEVEN. I am trying to take action and walk everyday and make sure I'm watching what I'm eating. We'll see if that helps.

Yesterday Selena and I took our kids to the park. It was chilly and windy, and even though I was wearing long-sleeves, I found myself shivering at the park. When we walked in we had noticed an abandoned coat just lying on one of the picnic benches. Selena said, "Why don't you just wear that?" So I did.

Time passed and we were pushing the kids on the swings, changing poopie diapers and feeding bottles when we noticed 2 boys also at the park. Selena whispered to me, "What if that's their jacket you're wearing?" I thought this was very funny and kept trying to see whether or not they were giving me weird looks.

As we were about to load up the kids to leave I decided I had better check with the boys to see if it was in fact one of their jackets. I asked them, and the answer (thankfully) was no. I could tell they thought I was weird, and it wasn't until I walked away that I remembered that not only did I have tape holding together my sunglasses (they broke last week), but I also had about 4 holes in the back of my pants, right in the rear-area. I'm sure they went home and told their mom they saw a homeless lady at the park who had holes in her pants and was picking up random clothing and wearing it.

photo courtesy of Selena




In other news, we are moving.

We found out a couple of weeks ago that the home we are renting is in foreclosure. Rather than sit and wait to be kicked out (not to mention keep giving money to a landlord who has been pocketing our money), we have found another home to rent. We are blessed to know the new landlords well enough to know they are trustworthy and won't stop paying their payments on the home. The best part is the house is just about a mile north of where we are living now, which means we get to stay in the same neighborhood and the same ward. I am sad to leave my amazing neighbor and friend, Shauna, but at least we will still be close!


That's about all the new stuff about us for now. I'm not into blogging lately because my camera is broken. Posts without pictures are lame.

I'm Cheapskate and I Know it

When my sisters and I were little, we were sometimes embarrassed by our mom's frugality. I can still hear my mom's southern voice asking the drive-thru person at McDonald's if they had "any of those little courtesy cups for children" so that we would could split one big drink rather than pay for separate ones. My sisters and I would cringe in our seats whenever we would go out to dinner as a family, because a coupon was always involved. If for some reason the waiter tried to say that the coupon was not applicable, you better believe my mom argued her case (and usually won).

Now that I am a mom myself I am noticing that I am the same way (maybe minus the coupon arguing). When I take the kids with me grocery shopping we always stop by the bakery for the free cookies they have set aside for kids. We know the 2 Phoenix McDonald's locations that give mini ice cream cones to kids for free (91st ave & Union Hills, loop 303 & Bell rd.) I was looking forward to getting my free dozen donuts from Krispy Kreme this year on my birthday, too, but when I drove up I found out they had closed down. That was depressing.

Thanks for teaching me the tricks of the trade, Don. Even though they are embarrassing, I'm getting over it :)

Princess Fiona

I am not a cute pregnant person. I basically hate the way I feel in my body from weeks 5-40 of pregnancy (and of course while trying to shed the pounds afterward). Even though my Selena is a professional photographer and has offered to take maternity pictures, my answer is always the same. No no NO!

Why?

Because I go from this:


To this:




I'm thinking of starting a pool to see how much I gain this pregnancy. Anyone interested?

Is it possible?

I'm only 13 weeks. Could I really be feeling this baby move already?

12 Weeks

I am 12 weeks along with baby #3, and life is still at a standstill here at the Barry house (for me at least). Poor Devin is picking up my slack. He does the laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, and every other thing that I am neglecting. I still feel sick most days, with a few good hours scattered here and there.

I wish I had something interesting to blog about, but all I do right now is watch tv. If you need to know the current primetime schedule I'm your gal. You can come visit me. Be warned, I'll be looking like this:

I Spoke Too Soon.

I have thrown up 3 times since my last post. Darn it.

Life on Hold

The word is out that I am PREGNANT.

I'm just shy of 10 weeks along. For the past 3 weeks I have cancelled every appointment, meeting, playdate, and obligation in my life to lie on my couch, trying not to vomit. My poor kids eat Cheeto's for the majority of their meals lately (the all-natural ones at least). Devin does the housework and is being such a help to me.

Last night something weird happened. I noticed that I was sitting up, not lying on the couch. Then I analyzed the feeling in my stomach and realized that nausea was absent! Today was another good day. I still had to do typical things like make emergency runs to the pantry when I got that nasty feeling, or take a break and lie down for a minute and let my head stop spinning, but I actually did things today. I took the kids to the park. I stopped by Selena's house and went to the store. I even went to walking group.


I hope the tide is turning!