A New Day

Well today I have started a new diet/weight loss plan. I will not discuss all the specific details of it at this time until I feel that is it working and worth bragging about. I did join a group for a "Weight Loss Challenge". This is being led by a lady from my church. We will meet for 12 weeks and basically be a support and encouragement group for one another. Each participant can follow whatever diet plan they wish. I am really very excited about it and really hoping for positive results. One of the things that she said last night which I really liked was that you don't need to come into this with a big goal of losing like 50lbs. Instead just say I want to lose 10 and when you get that 10 off go for 10 more. I like that approach, it is sensible and doable. So I ask your prayers for me as I continue in my quest to be a healthier woman, wife, mom and Christian. I feel very strongly that it is my responsibility to set a good example for my boys, not of being a skinny momma but a healthy mom. Healthy may not ever mean that I fit back into a size 8 or even a 10. I am excited about this new venture. I have been working on weight loss since the gestational diabetes diagnosis but in the last month have gotten really lax and put back on about 8lbs.

The other healthy habit that I have established since the baby arrived is exercise! And yes some of you know I get up at 4am to do it, but I feel so much better for it! I actually started a new workout dvd today, I LOVE it!!! I will brag about it a bit. It is Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds 5 Day Slim Down. I have done her walking workouts before and they are awesome. This one has 5 different 1 mile walks, one for each day of the work week, as well as a warm up and cool down. It took me about 30 minutes to do the whole thing this morning. It went by really quickly and it was challenging but fun. It is designed that if you wish to do more than one mile you can. However with time constraints 1 mile is just about all I can get in on a week day, I may push for more on the weekends.

I will say that as I have been on this journey of creating a new healthier me that i have seen many of my priorities change, in a good way! Here are a few things that I really don't stress out too much over anymore:

1. How clean my house is. There are just more important things in life. If you want to come by my house and do the white glove test I will go ahead and save you the gas and let you know it fails. It my potties are clean and you can not see too much dirt on the floor it is fine by me!

2. Hair/Makeup. Now don't get me wrong on this, I make sure I look presentable each day and do wash my hair. I just don't fuss over this the way I used to. I am a big advocate for proper skin care for your face. When I was growing up I was told that every night you do not wash your face, regardless of if you are wearing makeup or not, it ages your face 7 days! I don't know about you but I sure don't want to look 30 even though I feel it sometimes!! All I am saying on this is that it now takes me on average about 5 minutes to put on my make up and about 10 minutes on the hair. I am trying to work out the hair so that I do not have to use the straightening iron each morning but I am not there yet!

3. Being involved in everything. This spans several areas of my life, like church, band, school stuff. I have learned well over the last few years to say NO! I love being involved in stuff. And truth be told I love the fast pace life we lead with very little down time, but it takes it toll on you. I have slimmed down my responsibilities at church. This was hard to do b/c I want to be involved and want things to go well, but the thing is if God has not called me to it then I am wrong for doing it. I will not receive eternal glory for it. Now I may get a pat on the back for all the hard work but all the crowns I earned are burning up! As far as the band goes I will be going to only one band competition this year. That is really hard for me. Every year I have gone with Jim to Tupelo for State Festival and Contest, even the year before we married. This will be the first year I miss it. That is really hard for me but with JC being as young as he is there are limitations to what I can do. We are making the ballgames right now and that has been fun, but the competitions will go on without me this year. I will be cheering for them from home and wishing I was there. School stuff for Drew is absolutely ridiculous already! We are less than 2 months into school and already we have had 2 fundraisers and now the PTO is about to start one. This momma ain't doing 'em! I know, I know, it is my child's education and the school that will benefit from it. Well I am not hitting up every family member and friend I have for money. So that too will go on without me. I did make the effort to join the PTO and went to the first meeting which lasted almost 2 1/2 hours! I do plan to continue going to those, and that is the best I will do!

Wow, this turned into a much longer post than I intended! Well that is what is going on! Maybe by the end of the week I will get some pics of my boys and post them, but I won't stress over it!

First Baby Food Feeding!

Well I decided last night to try JC out on some real food! I am happy to say that he loved it! Carrots was our first food, I have more of that made up than anything else. I am making my own baby food this time. It went really good. I make it and then freeze it in ice cube trays. It actually took 2 cubes for last night's feeding. The trays I am using are really very small because that was only enough food to be equivalent to a small jar of stage 1 baby food. He has been eating a bowl of cereal at lunch and dinner time feedings for about 2 weeks now. He has done really good on that although he fusses quite a bit through it. He did not fuss at all with the carrots, so maybe he was just ready for something with some flavor! I am still having the day care just give him cereal at lunch time for now. I may start taking them some food on Monday if all goes well with it this weekend. I am pretty sure that Drew did not eat any cereal or food this early, but all kids are different. We go in for our 4 month check up on Oct 3 and I fully expect the doctor to tell me he should not be eating solids yet, to which I intend to respond that he should know from being a pediatrician that all kids are different and when he is ready to come to my house and take care of all the feedings for my child then he can insert his "professional" opinion! I will say that it is rather bittersweet that he is already to this stage. He is growing so much faster than Drew did. Drew was always a skinny little baby and JC is so chubby. They really are total opposites! JC loves his big brother though. He just smiles and laughs at him when he sits and plays with him. Even as Drew is tugging on his legs and throwing toys in his face he just smiles at him!! JC talks ALL the time. I mean seriously, everyone of you know that Drew's mouth NEVER stops, did God just think it would be funny to give me another one with motor mouth!?! The thing about JC talking so much is that I am pretty sure he has figured out how to say mama in his own way because that is what is sounds like when he is whining to be picked up or fed or changed or anytime other than when he is smiling and playing! It is a sweet sound though, well most of the time!!

Well I will close for now. That is what is happening in the Mayos house! Oh, one last thing, we are holding steady and staying well right now! I am praying that it will stay that way! I hope all of you are well or getting that way if you have been sick.

A New Look!

Well as you can see I felt that it was time for a new look to the blog! I wanted to add the pics to the banner so that it would be a bit more personal. I hope you like it!

There are many things rolling around in my mind and my heart today. Let me begin by asking prayers for our dear friends the Strawns. They had a baby girl last night at just 29 weeks gestation. Thus far she is doing well. This is their second child and they had the same type of problem with their first. He is now 6 and is Drew's "best, best friend!". I am praying that God will allow this precious baby girl to be another little miracle like their son. Of course hearing this kind of news from people you are close to reminds you of how incredibly blessed you are. I have no right to complain or ever get put out with my children. They are a blessing. I do wish that I would remember that more often without have to be reminded through devastating circumstances. So this is my way of saying, be thankful and take just a few minutes to tell God just how gracious He has been in your life. You know we are all undeserving of His love and mercy.

Now for a devotional thought. This morning my Journey devotion was from the passage in Romans 8:1-17, about life through The Spirit. God really spoke to me through verse 3-4
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
What God really spoke to me about was the magnitude of the fact that the "law" is powerless to save us! No one has the capability to live a perfect life because of sin. Jesus had to be sacrificed. There was no other way. He chose to come and take the likeness of sinful man to become the sacrifice. He did this fully knowing that some would never choose to give their lives to Him. Because I have accepted His gift of salvation I now do not live according to my sinful nature but according to the Spirit! Now that does not mean I do not sin, because I do! What is means is that I am no longer a prisoner of sin! The chains have gone and I live freely in the Spirit. As a result of the Spirit in me I am fully aware through conviction of my sin and shortcomings and therefore must seek forgiveness from my Savior. But the point of what I want to say today is that I am truly free from the misery of sin because of my salvation through Jesus Christ! Do you know Him that way? If not don't wait another day! I would be happy to share with you the way!

Another Drew Story

Well Jim ended up getting the stomach bug. He got sick Wednesday afternoon but was pretty much on the mend by the next morning. I am still praying and holding out hope that JC will not get it.

While Jim was sick on Wednesday I had to take care of the kids alone. Of course we went to church that night and when we get home from church it is always a rush to get ready for bed. I was getting Drew in the bed. We were skipping the story and devotion that night because it was already past bedtime. We had just finished our evening prayers. I had prayed that night and just as I got up to turn the light out Drew ask me something about God and Jesus and I was trying to explain to him that they are the same. His next question was so funny! He wanted to know if God wears crocs! I just chuckled and told him I did not know. The mental picture I had as this point was from Isaiah 6, one of my favorite passages, of God seated on the throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filling the temple wearing a brightly colored pair of crocs! I wonder if God has to laugh sometimes at the things kids will ask about Him!

Canoe Trip

Here are the pics from our canoe trip. They were not that great. I think that next year instead of buying the disposable water camera I will just take our old digital in a ziploc bag in case it got wet. It takes good outside shots. We did have so much fun and are looking forward to next year. Enjoy the pics!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Funny conversation with my elder son

As Jim and I were finishing our dinner last night Drew was playing on the rug in the living room. Our dining room looks out into the living room so we could see exactly what he was doing. As he was playing I noticed him wiping something from his hand onto the rug. I questioned him about it. Here is how the conversation went...

Mom: Drew, what did you just wipe on the rug?
Drew: Nothing
Mom: I just saw you wipe something, what was it?
Drew: Well, I just did this (demonstrates running his finger between his toes and then wipes it on the rug)
Mom: So you wiped toe jam on my rug!
Drew: I do not have toe dam!
Mom and Dad are now hysterically laughing!!!!
Drew: Stop laughing at me, I do not have toe tam!

I laughed so hard I hurt!

Promised Videos

JC playing with the toys on the bouncer.

JC eating cereal

Outside on Labor Day. Drew at the end with the car was funny!