Weighing it all out: way overdue update

A little over a year ago I started blogging about my journey to loose my very unwanted baby weight. I did really well in the beginning and was very motivated. At the time, I was running with a friend of mine to try and jump start my weight loss. I stayed with it for about three months or so until my friend started having foot problems and couldn't run and I just quit. I stayed about the same weight for the next three or four months. By the time this spring rolled around, I was tired of making excuses and  started really watching what I was eating. Funny thing was, as soon as I started my new diet plan, I got sick and lost about six pounds in two weeks. Some from the diet and some from being sick. Even though I was very conscious about what I ate, and I still am for the most part, I became stagnant again. The last time I updated was back in March and I weighed 153lbs at the time. I have pretty much stayed the same since then. I started walking again over the summer and had kept it up until we moved. Moving just throws everything off. Especially when it is an unexpected move like ours was. By the time fall got here, I decided I was going to do the Couch 2 5K running plan. I have several friends who have done it and loved it and I really wanted to be able to run. I knew if I could just do it and get myself running I could loose the rest of my baby weight plus some. For various reasons I kept putting it off and telling myself, "I'll start next week."  Finally, after we came back from our anniversary weekend trip in October, I started the following Tuesday.I am now on week four and I have run every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday since then, with the exception of this past Thursday and Saturday. I was able to complete week four, day one on Tuesday, not knowing yet that I was sick, so I will do week four over again this week. When I started C25K four weeks ago, I was 152lbs. So far I have lost two pounds, but I know that once I start running longer and walking less, I will loose more. I have also been reading a series "21 Days to a More Disciplined Life" on a blog called Moneysavingmom. Yesterday's post was about persevering when you want to give up. Since I was sick this week and not able to complete week four, this post came at the perfect time. I did not really want to quit running, I was more discouraged from being sick. I am really proud of myself for sticking to this plan for four weeks now and was really disappointed when I could not run on Thursday and Saturday.
At this point, I am very motivated to keep going and finish C25K and continue running after I've completed it. Hopefully my next update will not be six months from now.

Toy Chest

Every year our church does this ministry called Toy Chest. Members from the church donate gifts and/or money and they use the money to go out and buy all kinds of gifts. Bikes, computers, game systems, dolls, etc. This ministry is only for seminary families and it is such a wonderful way for the church to reach out to seminary students and their families. Each family is allowed to buy three gifts or spend $7, per child I think, which ever comes first. You can also get one bike and enter for raffle items. The best part is that the gifts are only a few dollars, depending on what you get. If you win a raffle prize you only pay $10, regardless of what the gift is. They do put the gifts into age categories to make sure that families get gifts that are age appropriate for their kids. Cary and I did this for Connor last year and we only got one big gift for $7. It was a really nice toy kitchen and he LOVED it and still does! This year, Cary had to go by himself. I have had a really nasty cold this week and was not able to go. :(  However, my husband is a hero. He got the best gifts for our boy for this age. He is going to be so excited!!

Connor loves things with buttons! Cary saw this Leap Frog Text and Learn that is going be so perfect for Connor. He only paid $2 for it!!

 The second gift we got was this wagon. We have been wanting to get him one for a while now and we knew Toy Chest would be the perfect opportunity. Cary paid $5 for this.

I saved the best part for last. I couldn't believe it when Cary told me, but we won a raffle prize this year!!! It will take a little practice for Connor to be able to use it, but I know he will love it once he figures it out!! It is a Dodge Charger police car!!

Part of me still can't believe it, but I am so excited for my little boy this year!! Especially now that he is old enough to have some idea about what Christmas is and what it means. What a huge blessing Toy Chest is and I am so thankful to be part of church family that is so generous.