My Weight Loss Journey-20 Pounds Down

10 month ago I looked in the mirror and  I did not recognize the body that was staring back at me.  I knew that I needed to make some changes but felt so very overwhelmed when I thought about having to lose 40 lbs. I decided to break my goal up and focus on losing 20 lbs. 20 lbs. seemed do-able and not near as frightening as 40 lbs.  I slowly started adding in exercise and really started to clean up my eating (especially over the last 2 months) and it may have taken 10 months but last Wednesday I officially reached my first weight loss goal of 20 lbs.

When I look in the mirror now I am staring to recognize the person who is looking back. My face is not as full and my stomach not as bloated. My arms have definition and my legs and thighs are slowly starting to tone up.  I still have at least 20 more lbs. I want to lose and  know that it may take some time so I plan to work hard all while having grace with myself.

I have no doubt in my mind that my body will never look just the way it did before I had children and I am OK with that.  I actually don’t know how it could after it has spent almost 2 years as safe haven for  my two sweet little boys. Pregnancy and motherhood have left their scars on my body in the form of stretch marks and a flabby tummy and wider hips, but they are scars I wear with pride as they are a reminder as to why I am working so hard to lose this weight....I am losing it for those 2 boys. Those boys need to grow up in a home where their parents set an example of healthy living for them. Where eating healthy is a priority and playing outside is expected. Where their mom is confidant about her body and does not talk negatively about the way she looks.

Those boys deserve that.

I deserve that.

Having Grace With Yourself as a Momma

Grace.

I have been  living my life around that word this past year.

Having two kiddos, working part-time, trying to keep my house clean, cooking healthy meals, writing this blog and contributing to another, being a wife to my husband, making time for my friendships and trying to find a little time for me is hard.

Hard and overwhelming.

I made the conscious decision during the last few weeks of my pregnancy with Charlie to give myself grace in not getting it all done and to just enjoy the time I had with my family.  I followed my own advice this past year and let me tell you it has paid off. My house is not spotless, sometimes we eat pizza too many nights in a week, my laundry pile is always high BUT I've soaked up my boys and my husband this past year like I never have before…all because I gave myself some grace.

Maybe you are a new momma who feels overwhelmed by your responsibilities.

Or maybe you are struggling to overcome the mountains of laundry and the floors that never seem to stay clean.

Maybe you just can’t shake those last 10 lbs. of baby weight.

Please have grace with yourself and allow yourself not to feel like you have to do it all. We only get to be mommas to our babies for such a short season that the other stuff can be put on the back burner while we cuddle and kiss and read to our babies.

I promise you will not regret rocking the baby a little longer or playing Candyland instead of cleaning your house or washing your dishes.

Soak up those babies.

And give yourself Grace.

Scotties Tissues to the Rescue

<<<< That picture right there? That has been what my nightstand has looked like for the good majority of the winter. I have spent more time battling sinus problems, dealing with kids with runny noses and recovering from tonsillitis than I would like to admit. So these last several months my nightstand has consisted of Scotties tissues, a glass of water, my chapstick, and hand lotion.

I'm not even sure how many boxes of Scotties tissues we have went through this winter but I'm guessing it would at least 10-12. Thankfully Scotties are soft which is perfect when you are wiping your nose approximately  200,000 times a day! Scotties are also gentle enough to use on my kids noses which is a must for me when I'm looking for a good tissue.

Scotties wants to send one of you your very own Scotties care package and a $25.00 Target gift card!

Giveaway Details- One winner will receive a Scotties tissue care package (think boxes and boxes of tissues) and a $25.00 Target gift card!

Just follow the steps below to enter

a Rafflecopter giveaway


I received a gift card and Scotties care package. All opinions are my own.

Three-Year-Olds

“Drake, what did you say?” I asked as I heard him mutter something under his breath.

“I didn’t say I don’t like you.” He replied with a daring  look in his eyes.

“What?!?” I said with anger and hurt in my voice.

“Nothing.” He said quietly as he avoided my eyes.

Three-year-olds mean business. They have the ability to try you and make you go crazy. They know that words can hurt and they use them to do so.

“Our Father up in heaven how be thy name. Thy will be done on earth and heaven. Give us our daily bread and forgive us who sin against you. Lead us not temptation deliver us from evil. The kingdom and the glory AMEN.” Drake prays in his sweet little voice as his eyes look into min.

We end each night with the Lord’s Prayer. Three-year-olds are wonderful I think as I listen to him say his prayer. So little and already has a love for Jesus. I’m so proud.

“I don’t want to go to bed!” He screams as I carry him up the stairs.

“I told you if you did not listen you were going to bed early.” I say with exhaustion dripping from of my voice.

“But I want a snack!!!!” He begs as I lay him down in his bed.

“It’s too late for that, you had your chance to eat at supper and you didn't. “ I said as I kiss him good-night.

Three-year-olds have a way of wearing you down with the whining and crying and their selective hearing.  They know just what buttons to push to make you wonder just what you are doing wrong as parent.

“I love you Drakie.” I say as we cuddle up for a Saturday afternoon nap together.

“I love you too Momma.”  He pauses and says “I’m sorry for being naughty last night. I want to be a good boy and not be naughty.”

“Oh Drakie, I know you do honey. You ARE a good boy.”

Three-year-olds have a way of letting you know when you need it the most that you are doing a pretty good as a parent. That they DO know right from wrong and can recognize when they hurt somebody.

My Drake at three-years-old is exhausting and frustrating and can be difficult. But my Drake at three-years-old is also sweet and sensitive and pretty much perfect.

And the best part about Drake at three-years-old? He tells me every day that I’m his best friend.  I think I kind of like three.

Happy Birthday to My Sweet Charlie

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Dear Charlie-

Today you turn one.  Do you know that the day you were born was both the most terrifying and perfect day all rolled into one? You gave us such a big scare when your heartbeat fell of the monitor and it took over five minutes to locate it. Charlie, I've never been so scared in my life. I had not even met you yet, but I knew you so well from spending every single second of the past nine months with you. The thought of something happening to you...well...I can't even put it into words. When we finally found your heartbeat I felt so much relief but was also a little afraid that we might have a firecracker of a little boy who would give us a run for our money (kind of like your big brother) and it was already starting.  Turns out that is so far from the truth as you are sweet as sweet can be.

I truly never believed that babies like you existed  When I heard Mothers talk about their babies who did not cry and were happy all the time and slept well I thought they were lying. That was until I met you. You really only ever cried if you needed something-changed, fed, burped, a nap-otherwise you were content. You started sleeping through the night at about 6 weeks and did so every night until you were 4 months old. We did hit a bit of a rough patch from about 4 months to 8 months in the sleep department but you still were an awesome sleeper waking up once to eat, chugging your bottle and heading back to sleep. At around 9 months you started sleeping from 6:00 pm until almost 7:00 am every night.  Yep, you showed me that pretty much perfect babies do exist.

From the very beginning we have said that you are sweetest boy. You love to be held and watch the world around you. When you were smaller you loved nothing more than to be snuggled up next to me in the Ergo carrier. You give your smiles out for free and have the most contagious grin.

As you have gotten older it has been so fun to watch your personality develop. You love food. Like, LOVE LOVE LOVE food. You have never met a food you don't like and some of the only time we see your temper is when you see us making or eating food and you are not getting any. You sit there and yell at us to let us know that you would like some too.

You love you brother more than anybody and it warms my heart to watch the 2 of you together. You light up when you hear his voice or see his face and you want to do whatever he is doing. He loves you so much and already stands up for you. The other day a kid pushed you over and Drake marched right up to him and said "That is my brother! You do not touch him!" Yep, I told you he loves you.

Charlie Bear you have brought so much to this family.  My eyes are filling with tears right now as I write this thinking about all the special moments that we have shared this year. Do you know what my favorite memories of our first year are? Those nights that you got up in the middle of the night to eat. I love rocking you in the quiet house when it was just you and I awake. I loved watching your face as you ate your bottle. I always rocked you longer than you need me to, but I did it for me, not you. I knew that you would not always be getting up in them middle of the night. I knew this year would fly by. So I rocked you and held you and snuggled you instead of rushing back to my warm bed. I wish I could bottle up those moments to relive over and over again.

Lastly Charlie, I want to thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being the sweet and gentle and funny and HUNGRY little boy that you are. Thank you for being that missing piece in our family. Thank you for your smiles and grins and laughs and those big blue eyes that can melt me in a second. Thank you for letting me smother you in kisses and cuddles every day. Thank you for making Drake a big brother. Thank you for giving me the  chance to be a Momma again.

And thank God for letting you be ours.

I love you Charlie,

Momma

 Edited to add:

Charlie's Stat's at 1 year-

Weight-22.2 lbs

Height 31 inches

Curious Charlie- Charlie's1st Birthday Party

Invitations from CardsJr

If you know me you know that I love to throw a party. I especially love planning parties for my kids. I initially thought that I would keep Charlie's 1st Birthday Party small...to just family...that idea lasted all of 12 seconds before I decided to throw an all out bash.

I decided on Curious George for the theme as Mr. Charlie is such a curious little guy. I kept the decoration and food simple all while sticking with the theme of Curious George and red, green, blue and yellow colors.

I decorated the chest of drawers right inside of entry way to greet guests as they came in. I framed a picture of Charlie I took for the invitations  set up a Curious George book and filled in with other things I had in my house.

I found Paul Frank treat bags on clearance at Target and filled them with Curious George fruit snacks and little packages of animal crackers to give to the kids as favors.

One of my favorite features of the whole party was the month pictures of Charlie that I hung up on a piece of twine with cloths pins  Such an easy, cheap and fun addition.

I also tried my hand at the famous tissue paper poms that are constantly floating around on the internet. They were actually super easy to make and really added something special to my decorations. The poms are still in great shape and I really don't want to throw them away so I think I will hang them up in Charlie's room.

The party was from 2-4 so I kept the food really simple. We had cake,  M&M's, animal crackers, Twizzlers bites, and chocolate covered banana slices.  For drinks I had a selection of pops, lemonade and drink boxes for the kids.

Cakes by Kick N Cakes

I really could not have loved the cake more! I told the girls at Kick N Cakes that we were doing a Curious George theme but the design was completely up to them.  I think they did a fabulous job! The big cake was chocolate peanut butter chip with butter cream frosting and it was DELICIOUS  Charlie's little smash cake was white cake with butter cream frosting and as you will see from the cake smash pictures I think he approved.

Yep, he ate about 90% of his smash cake. He loved it and just could not get enough. It was so fun to watch his face while everybody sang to him and then to see his reaction to his very own cake. I think this was probably my favorite moment of the day.

We had the perfect day celebrating our sweet little Charlie. I still can hardly believe that one whole year has already passed since we first met our him. But that is a whole other post!

This is Why I Should Hire Help

Seriously. Sometimes I  think I know more about html and blogs and all that other fun stuff than I do. Which really should not be that hard to figure out since I know NOTHING about any of that stuff. Anyways, silly  me decided it would be a good idea to try and change some things up and I lost all the people who subscribed to my blog via RSS Feed. Plus I also moved Facebook pages so those updates are gone too.Edited to add-I'm really super confused right now. Both the old and new feed are showing up in my Google Reader. I guess to be safe you should subscribe to the new feed?!? I will be asking the person I hire to help me with the last few things about this issue. Told you I was clueless! So this is what you need to do-(If you want to go the easy route just click on all the buttons below and we will be connected again. If not, you can read my rambling on why you should below)
1)If you were or are interested in following this blog via RSS Feed please click on the orange button below.  If you currently subscribe to the Sassy Silly Spunky Momma RSS Feed you are no longer receiving updates.

2) If you have not "liked" the Happy Where I Stand Facebook page you can do that below as well. I'm going to be shutting down the Sassy Silly Spunky Page in about a week and will only be posting updates on the Happy Where I Stand page. 3)If you follow me on Twitter you don't have to do anything. Twitter was my one easy change. If you don't follow me on Twitter but want to you can click on the Twitter button below. 4) I'm also on Instagram and would love to be your friend. My username is happywhereistand. Look me up :) Now you know the scoop so go ahead and click!
This blog change has been exhausting. Good thing I smartened up and hired somebody to help me with the last few details. Charlie's 1st Birthday Party Recap to come tomorrow.Can't wait to share it with you. 

Easy Dinner-Chicken Rice Casserole

I have been blessed with the opportunity to work part-time (3 days a week) and love the flexibility it gives me to do a job I love and also get extra time at home with my boys. The days that I work are always hectic. The morning is full of running around like crazy trying to get out the door on time and the evenings are full of dinner, baths, playtime, brushing teeth, stories and bedtime all crammed into a 2-3 hour time period.

I have found that prepping a few dinners on Sunday to have ready to pop in the oven on the days that I work has been a huge time-saver and has taken the stress out of getting dinner ready. One of my favorite make ahead meals in Chicken and Rice casserole. I mix everything together, put it in the pan and then all I have to do is throw the pan in the oven when I walk in the door. Best of all this dinner makes enough for 2 whole meals!  My 3-year-old and 11-month- old both love it and I often find my hubby going back for seconds and thirds!

Happy Where I Stand

Welcome! The new design is still a work in progress with a few things left to wrap up,  but for the most part Happy Where I Stand is ready for its big debut!

I wanted to share with you how this name came about and my vision for Happy Where I Stand.

I've always anticipated the next big thing-going to college, graduate college, getting married, buying a house, having a baby, having another baby, etc. thinking that once I reached the next big thing I would be happier. You know what  I have found? That really was never the case. Was I happy? Yeah, sure I was, but soon I would be itching for the next thing to come along thinking that thing would make me even happier.

But at some point in the last year I started to look at life a little differently. I started to be happy where I am in the moment. And you know what? That little change, well, it changes everything. The thing is, I didn't even consciously think to myself one day "Hey Katie, please just start being happy in the moment, OK?"  it just happened organically.   I started to enjoy the moments I was living so much more instead of looking toward the next big thing coming up in the future. You know what? Those little moments are where all the magic happens anyways.

My vision for this blog is simple.  I want to be an encouragement to other Momma's.  I want to focus on the little things, the things that I make an ordinary day extraordinary and of course those little moments of magic. I want to share stories and pictures and chat with you. I want to be happy where I stand.

Time to Say Good-Bye to Sassy Silly Spunky Momma

Sassy Silly Spunky Momma has had a great run (almost 5 years!) but I have felt that I was outgrowing the name for a while now. The problem was I could not think of another name that felt right so I've just let it be. Last night I was sitting in bed when all of a sudden the perfect name came to me.

Sassy Silly Spunky Momma will soon become

Things will slowly be changing over to the new name in the next couple of weeks. The good news is that as a reader all you have to do is keep reading! When the new domain name is up and ready this page will automatically take you to the new page.  It is that easy!

Although most of the content will stay the same I have plans to do a few things differently ...more about that  when the new site launches.

Thanks  to each and every one of you for supporting Sassy Silly Spunky Momma the last few years. I'm so excited for this new adventure and hope you come along for the ride!

This is What Dreams Are Made Of

I can't  even begin to explain how this photo makes my heart explode over and over again.

When I was pregnant with Charlie and found out at 20 weeks that he was indeed a boy I immediately started daydreaming of the moments my boys would share as brothers.

This moment right there?

Better than any dream I ever dreamed up.

Brothers.