Lincoln Lifestyle Change Challenge

I'll refer to this as LLCC from here on out. Change is a comin' in the Lincoln house. Ritchie and I have been feeling, to put it bluntly, FAT. We've acquired some pretty bad habits in the past few months. I'm bummed because when I was pregnant and had gestational diabetes we were eating really well. Limited desserts, lots of veggies and proteins, and plenty of walking (albeit, slowly - I mean, I was carrying an extra 25 pounds) was worked into our daily routine. We felt great. We talked a ton about keeping those habits up because we felt so wonderful and how healthy and fabulous our family was going to be.

Fast forward 11 months and we seem to have forgotten everything we learned. Desserts are a daily occurrence in our house. And I don't mean 3 strawberries and a dollop of whip cream. I'm talking whole pies consumed by 2 people in approximately 2 days. Or several cookies followed by ice cream. This is all, of course, after eating close to a 1,000 calorie dinner of either pizza, Chipotle, or spaghetti and bread just to name a few examples. Not only has this packed on pounds, but it drains our monthly spending budget pretty quickly. On top of everything Max is now eating what we eat and I refuse to give him pizza or fast food and want him to have well-balanced, healthy meals from early on to develop good habits.

So, in an effort to save our waistlines, our health, and our bank account we've decided to take action. We've attempted this many a time and I'm even hesitant to write about it for fear of failure. But, that's exactly why I'm choosing to blog about it. If I write a daily record for all to see of what I ate and what kind of exercise I accomplished I'm hoping I'll be more inclined to actually follow through with it. Right now we're committing to one month. September. We actually started today though because we figured why wait one more day? So here it is. LLCC Day 1

Daily Calorie allotment = 1213 for a goal of losing 2 pounds per week in September

Breakfast:Around 200 Calories

1 cup Cheerios and Go Lean cereal mix

1/2 cup milk

3 strawberries

Lunch: Around 320 Calories

1/3 chicken breast with steak sauce (I sort of hate plain chicken - but love it smothered it steak sauce - which is luckily very low cal)

1 tomato with 1 ball of mozzarella cheese and spinach, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Dinner: Around 350 Calories

1 Slice of Turkey Loaf

1 cup of green beans

1 red potato

Snacks: Around 150 Calories

1 apple with swiss cheese

2 strawberries

I still have around 200 calories to consume tonight and am trying to decide how to use them. So far I feel great and didn't feel hungry at all! I actually couldn't even finish my dinner tonight it was so much food. Which is odd considering the fact that I had no problem finishing a 1200 calorie Chipotle burrito last night. Well... onward. Tomorrow I am having lunch out with a friend, so that will be my first challenge (and on day 2 no less - I suppose it has to happen sometime). I'll be blogging about this daily (or trying at least) so I hope I don't bore you all to tears talking about my eating.

It's DONE!

I've finished Max's first year digital scrapbook!

Click here to view this photo book larger

I'm still sort of waiting to place the order in case something amazing (like walking) happens in the next couple of weeks. I'll probably break down and order it though because it's more than likely that walking won't happen before 1 year and I think that over 80 pages is plenty :)

11 Months

Here we go! Last month of his first year of life. It's surreal and emotional and thrilling all at once. This past month was full of wonderful accomplishments and so many of the exciting things we'd been looking forward to!

I would say with confidence that Max is one mobile fellow now. At the beginning of this month he started consistently crawling on all fours (before it was more of an army crawl) but by the end of the month he was in the major leagues of crawling. He's fast, he's accurate, he could be the MVC. Most. Valuable. Crawler. He's that good. He does stand on his own occasionally, but this is solely by accident and once he realizes he's not holding onto something he kind of freaks and grabs the nearest object that could support him. I think he may be one of those after-one-year-walkers and I'm just fine with that. It keeps him one step further from toddler hood for this mommy who's not quite ready yet.

Some strong opinions were developed this month for Max regarding vegetables. He pretty much hates them. He's taken to hiding them in his highchair seat so that his tray is cleared in the hopes of getting something more appetizing to eat. We've caught him sneaking the veggie up to his mouth, licking it, giving a look that can only be described at pure disgust, and then looking at us as he stuffs it into his seat. We're working on it. He still seems to enjoy peas and pureed veggies, but long gone is his love for green beans, zucchini, squash, and carrot. So sad. He's a fruit monster though and will promptly devour any fruit you put in his reach.

Lastly, Maxton started giving high fives, clapping, giving kisses, and waving hello! Such an exciting month! All of these are so cute and we're always encouraging more of them. He also found his tongue this month and holds it all the time. He's slightly obsessed. We're not worried... yet. Just joking, of course. With his tongue he also makes a clicking noise and blows raspberries now. Did I mention just how adorable we think this kid is? We NEVER have one day pass where we don't laugh with him, marvel at him, and talk at length about just how lucky we are and how much we love him.

Here's some pictures of our little cutie at 11 months. He's changing into such a little boy right before our eyes. Slow down, Max. Stay a baby just a bit longer.

Always so happy. He lights up our lives.
He's full of new expressions and very curious.



Here are some of his newest faces. This kid cracks us up!

We love you Maxton! Each day with you is an adventure! In one month I'll be posting pictures from your big party and telling all about this last month of your first year of life. Let's enjoy every moment like we always do.

The things I think about.

I just realized (and had a slight anxiety attack over that fact) that Max has a mere 17 years until he leaves for whatever Ivy League college he chooses. 17 YEARS. That's simply not enough time.

It's a good thing he's a September baby and I can hold him back from starting Kindergarten, therefore pushing it out to 18 years. Yes, 18 years. That's much better.

Wave Hello to Mr. Cutie

And he'll wave back!

Maxton Shares With Gracie

Our little sweetie pie is learning to share! Unfortunately, Gracie takes full advantage of this new nicety.

10 months

A little late (again) on the monthly update, but I guess better late than never!

I honestly don't even know where to begin this month! First off, Max became VERY, VERY mobile this last month. He went from army crawling on his belly to crawling on all fours inconsistently. He still mostly army crawls but he is FAST. He often beats us places now and finds that very exciting! haha!

The theme of the month seemed to be games. Max has learned many fun new games, including nose-diving off of the bed (knowing full well someone will catch him) and laughing hysterically. He also likes to hold something out above the air from up high (like our arms or a high chair) and laugh while we hold our hands out to catch it. He moves the object back and forth and gets a kick out of us "chasing" the object with our hands so it doesn't drop. He must think we're idiots. And of course we laugh right along with him, and then feel sorry later because we're probably creating a monster.

On a more positive behavioral note, Maxton has learned how to share. He loves to share his binky with mom and dad, and his food with Gracie. We always give him his binky back, but he's not usually as lucky with Gracie.

He's a whole different kid now that he's mobile. He loves to explore and cruise the furniture. He's not into his toys as much as the dog bowls, dog door, coke cans, shoes, coasters, dvds... well, you get the idea. Basically, he wants anything he's not really supposed to have.

This is Max's new silly face. He smiles this new, scrunchy nose, squinty eyed smile and then we know he's REALLY happy with life.
Still just the two bottom teeth. But, oh, how cute they are... peekin' out of that lovable grin.

To put it simply, he's adorable and amazing and we couldn't love him more. 10 months is, without a doubt, the BEST.