It's only fair to update the blog

Back by popular demand, and by popular I mean 3 people, I have decided to resurrect the blog.  I won't be able to post like I did pre-Christopher, but once a week or so might be nice, don't you think? 
Speaking of Christopher, did you hear he was born? Not if you only check my blog you didn't. But, I'm on facebook often enough and so are you, so you know what's up.  But, here is some more in depth details about the new Pickett given to us by God for His glory and our enjoyment. 
Christopher is Noah 2.0.  He looks just like Noah, but Noah is all Irish and Christopher is all Italian.  Also, Christopher is the newer, "sleeker" model because he weighed about a pound and a half lighter than Noah did at birth.  But, they both have those gorgeous blue eyes that are ever so desirable.  
Christopher seems like the typical second child, more laid back, less precocious, but so sweet natured. He is not as easily impressed as Noah, but when Christopher smiles, the whole room lights up.  Christopher has grown very quickly since birth and has caught up to big brother at this stage in life.  He is in the 77% for height and 75% for weight and he sleeps 13 hours a night. Yes, you can all be jealous of me now. 
Here's a picture of the one we often call C-dawg because Christopher is sooooo long to say all the time, but I refuse to call him Chris. 


I smile with my mouth open!



Noah took about 3 months to get used to not being the center of the universe. Not bad really considering some people never learn that lesson until they meet their Maker.  Noah loves Christopher so much and tells him so every day, freely giving Christopher kisses all the time. I cannot wait until Christopher is old enough to play with Noah instead of being a punching bag. Here's the handsome big brother in action at Grandma and Pap pap's pool.  He's 2 and a half now. Although, if you ask him he'll argue with you and tell you that he is zero and Christopher is 2 and a half. The poor boy has my temperament.         



In other, not-so-cute-but-still-pertinent news, I lost 25 pounds. That may not sound all that impressive since I just had a baby four and a half months ago. But, what if I told you that from the beginning of my pregnancy to the end I didn't gain a pound, would you be impressed then? 

In fact, at one point during the pregnancy I lost 10 lbs. and throughout the course of the rest of the pregnancy I only gained those 10 pounds back.  So, in the 15 months that I had told you of my desire to slim down, I have lost 25 pounds.  Thank you Lord for guiding me through this endeavor. 

I still have a little ways to go, I have about 15 more pounds to shed to have a healthy B.M.I, but considering I am exercising, eating right, and still nursing, I am actually hopeful that I might return to a weight that I haven't seen since my undergraduate days. 

So, how did I do it?

I'm not telling you.

I don't want you all to be thinner than me. 

Just kidding. I'll tell you. As you may remember, before I became pregnant with Christopher, I was watching my calories like crazy.  I was exercising very consistently and maintaining a 1600 calorie intake.  But, I felt like progress was very slow and really leading nowhere. 

During the course of my pregnancy I was tested for gestational diabetes.  Everyone has to be tested when they are pregnant.  While I passed my (second) test, the doctor said the numbers were like getting a C+ on an exam.  I passed, but it wasn't a great score.  I remember the same results occurring during my pregnancy with Noah. My OB recommended that I cut all simple sugars from my diet so as to see if I could prevent having another huge baby (I was trying to deliver VBAC, which didn't work out anyway). 

I'm a bit type A when people give me goals. So I decided to figure out exactly what he meant by simple sugar and cut everything in my diet with it.  I obviously knew desserts were out the door. So much for the stereotyped pregnant lady who gets to eat anything she wants. But, as I started to read, and read, and read about what sugar does to one's body and what foods contain it, I started to realize that sugar has been my problem all along.  No, the desserts weren't the main foe. It was all the white pastas and all the "wheat" bread that has high fructose corn syrup hiding as a main ingredient. It was the potatoes, and tomato sauces, and anything else that the body processes like a sugar that isn't necessarily sugar. I have to tell you that I felt so ignorant while reading about nutrition. I thought I had it all figured out.

Keep your calorie count down, and you'll lose weight, right? But all the while, it wasn't just how much I ate, but what I was eating that was the problem.  And like I said, it was the stuff that seems healthy, like yogurt, and sandwich bread, and certain types of fruit.  Portion control was never actually the problem for me. 

So, it's no wonder that I didn't gain any weight while I was pregnant, or that Christopher was a normal birth weight, or that I feel like a million bucks comparatively to two years ago. 

The food I was eating was hindering me.  I am so thankful that the Lord showed me a way to eat well, feel satiated, and maintain a healthy weight. I had been praying about it for quite some time so I am thankful for answered prayers.

Well, I have much more to blabber on about my diet and exercise routine. But, I think this post is sufficiently long enough, so you'll just have to wait until next week to hear more about my boring life.  Goodnight!    

My mother is a very needy person

10 weeks to go!

30 weeks down, 10 weeks to go until our lives are again changed forever.  To get some of you up to speed,  I am due March 12th, we are having a boy, and we have named him Christopher Brandon.  We will be calling him Christopher and not Chris, so please follow accordingly. 
Christopher is definitely growing, and has been making me very hungry in the last few weeks.  With Noah, I felt hungry through out the entire pregnancy.  With Christopher, I have only noticed feeling famished in the last few weeks.  I am praying that this little dude will be a little but smaller than his brother, since Noah was 9 lbs. 6 oz. at birth and 22 & 1/8 inches long.  I know that most people have their smallest baby the first time around, but I don't know how we get bigger from here.  I know people who have had ten pound babies, I just don't want to be one of those people. 
I have been relatively consistent with exercising.  I have been doing prenatal yoga about twice a week, and using a recumbent bike 2 times a week plus doing light arm strengthening exercises after I ride my bike.  I would like to do more on the bike, but for about the past 6 weeks, when I ride my bike I get Braxton Hicks contractions, which makes it very difficult to continue.  They stop as soon as I stop riding the bike, which is a bit annoying, but I take it as a good sign for this pregnancy because I literally did not have a single false contraction with Noah.  I went from feeling absolutely nothing to having contractions 1 minute a part when he was 9 days late.  You can imagine the shock this sent both my body and Noah's body into.  With Noah, I had intentions of not having an epidural.  Once I got the hospital, however, the doctor asked (before everything went crazy with Noah), "Epidural?"  I looked at Brandon, whispered, "sorry," and then responded to the merciful doctor, "Yes, please." 


Noah eating the horse's plastic carrot

 I have done very well with my weight gain this pregnancy, as I have only gained 12 pounds thus far.  I was overweight to start this pregnancy, so I hope to at the most gain 24 pounds (normal weight people should gain 25-35 pounds).  If I gain a pound a week from this point on, then I am right on track to meet my goals.
 As many of you know, I have discontinued my calorie counting once I knew I was pregnant because it is not advisable to feel famished during pregnancy.  However, I have been attempting (minus the holidays, and my walking trips to the mall with my friend Jenny) to make sure that everything I put in my mouth is of a nutritious nature.  I have been consuming a lot of unsalted nuts, eggs, fruits, veggies, and lean meats, and drinking lots and lots of filtered water.  Noah and I like to eat an apple a day (Noah eats it with the skin on, can you believe it?) together.  Thank goodness for Aldi or else I would be spending $20 a week on apples. 
As I come closer and closer to the end of this pregnancy, I ask that you would keep Christopher and I in your prayers.  I am attempting to have a VBAC this pregnancy, so like with all pregnancies there is some risk to this choice.  We desire to have a VBAC as opposed to another c-section for two main reasons: We would like to have a large family and for my health. 
So, please pray that the Lord would keep the baby and I safe through out the rest of this pregnancy and especially during delivery.  Please pray that I would not have gestational diabetes (will find out in about a week- I didn't with Noah), please pray that Christopher would be a child of God and would always know Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and please pray that Brandon and I would raise both Christopher and Noah in the fear and admonition of the Lord.       
Oh, and here are some pics of Noah for your viewing pleasure:

Noah loves peanut butter!

Oops!  I ate it all.