Getting back to it

First off, I apologize for the photos. I don't know what is going on with my computer but it is not saving any of the edits i make.
Anyway, getting back to it...Shape,that is. When I got pregnant with Maverick I was in the best shape I had been in since before I had Preston. I was down to 135 and exercising daily and eating really well. Now, 51 extra pounds and 3 kids later, I'm not going to mess around with getting back into that shape. It took me 8 months to feel great about the way I looked after Ethan was born, and I won't let this time take that long. I gave myself one week after birth to eat whatever I wanted and not do any physical activity. Thank goodness Thanksgiving fell in that week! Week one came and went and today I started a no processed sugar and no carb diet. I also started lightly working out again. At delivery I weighed 186 and after 1 week I was only down to 174.

So here is the diet:

BREAKFAST: 2 egg whites, 1 yolk, 1/4 avocado, coffee with a splash of heavy cream

MORNING SNACK: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 pear (or 5 strawberries), a handful or raw almonds

LUNCH: a sirloin patty (made with asparagus,onion,garlic and 1 egg white, and a side of steamed broccoli and cauliflower

AFTERNOON SNACK: 1/3 cucumber, 1 tomato, 2 slices of fresh mozzarella with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

DINNER: a bowl of chicken soup (chicken breast, 1/2 chicken broth 1/2 water, onion, spinach, celery, and garlic)

DESSERT: 1 cubed apple with cinnamon (i like to microwave it for 2 minutes so it tastes like apple pie filling)

This weeks exercises is as follows:
Monday thru Saturday: walk to recreation center 4 blocks away, and do 4 laps around park. (Three laps is 1.3 miles)
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: dumbbell arm lifts and calf raises

I really hope that this diet/exercise plan gets me back into shape fast and still allows my milk supply to stay up since I plan to breastfeed for as long as possible. I'll keep updating my progress but if anyone sees me in a moment of weakness, feel free to rip any junk food from my hands or drag me out of bed to make sure I get my daily work out in!! :)

Lots of Love and Bunches of Hugs,
Brogan Lee

Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving week was also the 1st week of Mavericks life, so here are some updates from "The Feast" and the adventures of the last seven days!

Anyone who knows us, knows that both the Walling family and the Barret family have a thing for cake. When Ethan was born, we told Preston he could have something special because he was going to be a big brother. Preston chose to have cake! It was so cute and kinda of a funny story amongst the family, that we decided to do it again this time for both boys. Preston got his "Big Brother 1" cake...

And Ethan got his "Big Brother 2" cake...

On the 23rd Mav and I headed back to the hospital for a routine check up to make sure he was nursing OK and he wasn't jaundice and hadn't lost too much weight. All his stats were perfect and he is a GREAT eater! (Surprise, surprise)

Here is is at 3 days old...I've been told that he looks like his Daddy in this pic.

Also on the 23rd, my little brother Martin came down for a visit. It was the 1st time i had all three boys in the car together and they did GREAT! I was very proud and impressed with them!

Uncle Marty was basically Santa Claus this weekend and continuously showered the boys with gifts...1st up: Aviators!

The it was the 24Th, Thanksgiving!! After having Maverick, the pressure was off my stomach and I could enjoy endless amounts of food without the annoying heartburn or full feeling after only a few bites. I took FULL advantage of the fact that this holiday fell in the one week span i gave myself to eat whatever i wanted!

Preston and Ethan are pretty picky eaters. My Grandma Donna made an AMAZING meal and all they wanted was turkey lunch meat, a dill pickle and apple sauce. I don't know why they are so picky. Price and I both will eat almost anything. Oh well, more food for me!

My mom found this HUGE bottle of wine almost a year ago and had been waiting for a special time to open it.

The 1st of many plates for me!

Our good friends Anna, Dustin and their daughter Ava Jay joined us for dinner. They are from Arkansas and don't have any family in California. It was great to spend the holiday with them! Between Martin and Dustin, Preston was in heaven to have men in the house again to rough house with.
Martin and my Grandma Donna (the wonderful chef) enjoying their meals.

Our family (minus my hubby and grandpa)...I look sooo tired and blah!

Uncle Marty and his boys! It only took about 12 attempts to get one decent picture with both Preston and Ethan looking in the general direction of the camera! :)

Preston is back to loving to hold Maverick. I guess he doesnt think he smells so bad anymore.

Amongst all the toys Martin brought was a toy plane. We went to the park and he tried to teach the boys how to fly it. It was pretty cute.
Other than the car picture, this is the 1st TRUE picture i was able to get of all my boys. Preston age 4, Ethan age 2 and Maverick 5 days old!
Maverick Charles Walling 5 days old!
He is officaly 1 week old! He is a wonderful baby! Seriously, he never cries (unless i'm changing his diaper in the cold), i have to wake him up to eat, he is perfect in the car and in the stroller and will sit in the bouncer and let me run around the house like a crazy person doing chores without so much as a squeal. Im truly a lucky mom!
Maverick's first week came and went so fast! It's sad :( He has already changed so much, I cant even imagine what the next few days/weeks/months have in store for us. Only 2 more weeks until his Daddy will be home and gets to meet him!

Lots of Love and Bunches of Hugs,

XOXO Brogan Lee

Maverick Charles Walling

It has been a good long while since i have posted anything new...and for a good reason. Walling baby #3, aka Maverick Charles Walling finally arrived! I never went into labor on my own so I ended up being induced on Sunday November 20Th at 40 weeks 6 days pregnant. My wonderful sisters Karlene (far right) and Ashlee (center) flew down for the weekend to be my support system during delivery since Price wasn't going to make it. I don't know how i would have done it without them!

Along with my sister Ashlee came my youngest niece Nora Grace. I obviously don't have any daughters but still LOVE all the pink and ruffles and fun girl clothes. So, in anticipation of Nora's arrival, i did a little shopping and got her clothes for the weekend. Check out her looks:
OUTFIT #1

OUTFIT #2

OUTFIT #3

OUTFIT #4 (its kind of hard to see in this pic but she was wearing a pink floral onesie, fur vest, and layered floral jean mini skirt) She had one last outfit, but I left for the hospital before i got to see her in it.

I was scheduled for an induction at 1pm but my sisters thought we should head over early and see if they could get the ball rolling. I'm so glad we did! We walked in the doors and there was no one there so they took me right in! At exactly 11 am i was started on potesin (a labor inducing drug). At 2pm they broke my water, at 3pm they started the epidural (which took 2 attempts and 45 minutes to get in), and after 3 pushes our little man made his grand entrance at 5:09 pm!

He weighed 8 pounds and 7 ounces and was 22 inches long. He is the longest of all my boys by an inch and the heaviest by one ounce. Ethan was the shortest and heaviest of them all!

Maverick had a full head of dark hair just like i did when i was born.

I am beyond lucky to have had these great women with me along the way. Karlene: thank you for staying calm and supporting me through the whole epidural process. It was NOT an enjoyable 45 minutes and it was really reassuring to have you in front of me the entire time.

Ashlee: thank you for keeping a close eye on Mavericks heart rate in the last hour of labor. I was indescribably worried and trying not to panic but you told me everything was OK and hearing you say that really made me feel better.

Anna: You made it just in time girl! I loved your excitement and enthusiasm and positive energy!

Preston had been DYING for his newest baby brother to be born. So as soon as he got the phone call and started seeing pictures sent from the hospital, he was ready to come visit. He wanted to hold Maverick right away but then was ready to hand him right back when the baby started to let out some pretty bad gas! Ha Ha Ha!

Monday night we loaded up and headed home! I was nervous about how all the boys were going to get along but it went pretty well!

Ethan really likes to look at Maverick and waves to him and says "hi baby", but doesn't have a real desire to touch him or get too close.

Everything is still in whirl wind status, and i'm trying to get into a routine again, but for the most part life with three boys has not been to bad. Thank you to all the help I have (and had). I'm sure this adjustment period would not be the same without all of you!

I feel so blessed to have another healthy, handsome little boy and I can't wait to see what kind of adventures he has in store for us! I'm hoping to stay on top of my posts and keeping all of you updated of our crazy lives, but i have no idea what kind if free time i'll have!

Lots of Love and Bunches of Hugs!
XOXO Brogan Lee

Baby #3: 40 weeks

40 weeks...I'm there! This baby is done cooking! Depending on the due date you choose to look at, I'm either WAY late, exactly done or still have 3 days to go. When i first found out i was pregnant, i looked up my due date with the conception date and it said November 14Th. That is the date I've been using all along to determine how far into the pregnancy i am. By that date i am technically DONE! The midwifes 1st due date she gave me was November 17Th (3 days away) by using the 1st day of my last period. When i had my first ultrasound, the babies measurements gave a due date of November 12Th and then when i had my second ultrasound, the baby measured at November 8Th.

For being 10 months pregnant, i feel pretty good. I get tired out really easy, and my feet always hurt and are swelling a lot. I'm just now to the point where I'm having a hard time sleeping. I saw my midwife a few days ago and was told i was 4cm dilated and that I would have the baby any day. I was told the same thing with both Preston and Ethan and neither of them came before my due dates without being induced. I really don't want to be induced this pregnancy but am nervous that if i go too long, he may be too big for me to have naturally. The midwife said it was a ten day waiting period to schedule an induction so at my last appointment, i booked an appointment just in case he doesn't arrive. So as of now, if little man continues to be stubborn, his birthday will be either November 20Th or November 21st! Both days my sisters will be here, so I'm kind of excited about that! I've been a lot lazier with my postings, but I promise to update when he's born!

Lots of Love and Bunches of Hugs,
XOXO Brogan Lee

Girls weekend

In anticipation of Walling baby #3's arrival, my best friend Nicole came down from San Luis Obispo to help out (and visit). Unfortunately, the baby never came, but it was great getting to chat, relax, eat an ungodly amount of food and have her help with the boys. My grandma had flown in from New York a few days before and when we woke up in the morning, she treated us to some wonderful home made crepes with fresh strawberries!

Nicole works with kids, and her mom is a preschool teacher, so she is full of good ideas of how to keep little ones busy. With some of the over ripe bananas i had laying around, she taught the boys to make chocolate chip banana nut bread. Preston LOVES to cook and of course had to dress the part. He pulled out his Chef costume from Aunt Karlene and they got to baking! The bread was delicious and didn't even make it two days in the house!

I haven't had much of an appetite lately and couldn't put my finger on what i wanted for lunch. We narrowed it down to Mexican food and drove over to my favorite place in Imperial Beach. Going inside was a big mistake! We walked in the door and suddenly everything looked (and smelled) amazing!! Again we found ourselves unable to make up our minds so we ordered just about everything! We had potato tacos, enchiladas, rolled tacos, beans, rice, chips, about 5 different types of salsa and guacamole. It was um um GOOD! I'm sure this meal alone was responsible for me gaining back the few pounds i had lost in the past week.

I think the kids were too amped up from all the company and didn't nap. By 8 o'clock on the dot, both of them were knocked out on the couch. It was pretty cute (and a big relief to have some piece and quite!)

The next day we pulled out some paints and created art work. For Christmas, my sisters got the kids an easel and a bunch of paints. We had used up all the paints except for one pack. When i pulled the package out and read the back, i discovered something really interesting about these paints. They were all made of dried fruits and veggies!! It was literally corn starch and organic produce! All we had to do was add water. I felt like i was painting with watered down baby food, but i loved the concept! It is totally safe if the little ones put their hands in their mouths. Way to go sisters on this safe painting discovery!

After painting, we cleaned the table by spraying it down with shaving cream and letting them finger paint (see, didn't i tell you she is clever!)...

They didn't really grasp the finger painting part but LOVED spreading it around and getting it all over themselves.

Creamy hands...

...more creamy hands

Scrub a dub dub...

After the boys had their fun covering themselves in weird stuff, it was the grown ups turn! I couldn't believe Nicole had never done a face mask before! My mom picked up a few jars of my favorite mud mask in Old Town and we sloped it on our faces, soaked our feet in a cold bath and chatted away about her upcoming nuptials (YES she is getting married!!!) Even though the mask kind of burns/itches while it's on, i think the silky smooth, shrunken pore result was enough to make Nicole a face mask lifer! Ha Ha Ha

Since little Walling man was still being stubborn, we went to lunch on Nicole's last day here. Soup plantation is one of both of our all time favorites! I did some serious damage to my gut. If the Mexican food wasn't the reason for my weight gain, this meal DEFINITELY was!

We finished up her visit with a hopping spree at Babies R Us. My sisters and youngest niece are flying in this weekend for a visit and I'm pretty excited to see the little miss! As someone who is about the be the mother of 3 boys, I get a little crazy around girls clothing! I my have bought everything in hot pink, tulle and even a little fur! Nicole managed to re frame from pink and stuck to the purple outfit for Nora! I even made sure every outfit has a matching hear bow/band and tights! I cant wait to play dress up! I promise pictures will come!

I love our girls weekends and I for see many more in the future to prepare for her big day! I'm so glad I'll be on maternity leave for the next few months, it will make it SOOO much easier to get away... except for he three kids ;)

Lots of Love and Bunches of Hugs,
XOXO Brogan Lee