Evie at the Pool

On Thursday we took Evie to the Ridgewood pool. I loved this because it's where I learned to swim!

Fun on the splashpad with Dad

 Loved blowing bubbles with Mommy

The basketball was her favorite toy BY FAR!

Back to Blogging

Hello blog followers!  I'm sure that many of you have stopped checking in here since I have all but quit blogging since December.  If you've missed me, I'm sorry.  The reason that I haven't been sharing with you for a while is not that there hasn't been anything going on around here.  It is rather that there has been lots going on, but I haven't known whether or how to share it with you.  I've decided to go ahead and fill you in because it feels like I just have to in order to feel free to share anything else.

I'll stop you right there before you let your imagination run amock.  This has nothing to do with babies, whether Evie or future Hall babies - E is great and no others are planned in the near future.  Nick and I are still happily married and very much in love.  Nothing major or devastating has happened.  But I have been going through a little health-related thing.

As any of my mom friends, and especially those of you who have nursed your babies know, while you are breastfeeding you are constantly going through hormonal and weight fluctuations.  Then when you stop, things gradually return to normal.  Things were going swimmingly with me up until December when I weaned Evie.  Then my body went haywire!  I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that my body was NOT acting like it should, in many, many ways.

I went to visit my doctor who conducted a number of tests - drew 6 or 7 vials of blood, ultrasounds, and finally a glucose tolerance test - yes, I got to repeat that most wonderful pregnancy milestone - and it turns out that I am insulin resistant. 

Basically, in a totally oversimplified way, my body acts like it's diabetic.  My body won't absorb the insulin in my blood, which in turn leads to high insulin levels, which drives my blood sugar level low, which makes me crave carbs and keeps my body from burning its own fat for fuel, in fact it encourages my body to store fat.  It also throws off my other "female" hormones because insulin is a major hormone, which effects all those others.  In that way, it can lead to PCOS symptoms in women, which I have been experiencing.

I am now taking Metformin, a diabetes drug. which helps my body use the insulin I'm making and will, hopefully, decrease my insulin levels over time, which should help my body return to normal overall.

Why am I telling you all this?  Well, for one thing this whole process has taken from January through now and has been very distracting.  When I've had time and energy I've been researching insulin resistance and trying to learn what I can about how to best control it.  But energy is a whole other issue.  Because my blood sugar is always borderline low, and I take care of a toddler all day, I simply haven't had much energy to spare lately.

I've also just felt like this was the biggest thing happening in my life, and I didn't know how to talk about anything else without referencing it.  It felt somehow deceptive.  But now it's off my chest, and I feel like I can fill you in on the rest of our lives again! 

Before I bid you adieu I'll answer a few questions that I usually get asked when I tell people about my little issue.  First, insulin resistance is really a genetic thing.  You don't "get" it or "cause" it.  The two biggest risk factors for developing it are obesity and a family history of Type II diabetes.  (I have neither).  But if it's in your genes, you'll develop it.  I just got really unlucky.  Yes, it does mean that I have a  heightened risk for developing Type II later in life.  I'm not really sure how this will play out.  When you are overweight you can lower this risk by losing 7-10% of your body weight and beginning a regular exercise routine.  While I hope to lose some "vanity weight" I am already at a healthy body weight, and I already exercise regularly.  Maybe my lifestyle will stave it off into my old age, but maybe there's nothing I can do to stop it.  I guess we'll see!

If you have read this far, thank you.  I promise to post more uplifting information in the future.  If you know me well, you know that "full disclosure" is definitely my MO, and I really just couldn't keep this from you..  Next up, a beach post!

RCC Easter Egg Hunt

If you don't already know, Evie and I have decamped to Waco until mid-May because Nick is doing some school in Alabama for 8 weeks. Since he's gone, I'm going to post a zillion pictures on here since it's an easy way for him to access them.  Sorry if it's picture overload for our friends!
Mom was nice enough to take us to the Ridgewood Country Club Easter Egg Hunt today.  They had a bunny, chicks, ducklings, the Easter Bunny, facepainting, balloon art, and more!  Here's how EC did at the festivities.

 Fun with bunny!

 Ducklings

 Getting brave!

 Unsure!

 With Bear, the therapy dog.  He was her favorite and she called him by making a "click click" sound all morning!

 Loading up her basket!

 Post-hunt meltdown

 Egg hunt aftermath.  She got a gold dollar coin!  So excited!

 Pics with the Easter Bunny are on a different camera and will be forthcoming shortly!

Pretending

Evie's first Imaginitive play- using a bronze teapot and cups I bought in Morocco circa 2000. Love it!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

February Cruise

This cute girl stayed with Edie and Grandad for the first week of February while Nick and I took a cruise through the Southern Caribbean.

 The trip started off with a bang!  Evie and I arrived in Waco a week early to acclimate her to their house, and by the end of that week we had both been to the doctor.  I had a massive allergy attack and she had a terrible diaper rash.  We both got some steroids, and things were looking up from there! 

Nick flew into Houston and our cruise left from Galveston so I picked him up on the way down on Sunday.  Here we are on the balcony of our cabin, getting ready to leave.

 This is us on our first formal night.  It was fun to dress up, and they had free champagne before dinner!  We met some cute couples from Baylor that night, one of whom was a KOT with my brother Mark.  We three couples made up about 50% of the young adult population on our cruise...the rest were easily twice our age and up!

For our first two days at sea it was cool, cloudy, and windy so we didn't get much sun so forgive our pastiness here!  This picture is from our first day on land.  We went ziplining in Roatan, Honduras.  It was a lot of fun, but rainy and cold!!

 Getting clipped in and ready to go!

 This monkey hung out on Nick's shoulder for a while.

 Here's Nick with our ship in the background.

 Here we are on day four of the cruise in Belize City, Belize.  We snorkled there, which was fun, but it was rainy and cool again! 

On our last day on land we docked at Cozumel.  We were late getting docked because someone jumped from deck eleven of the Allure of the Seas on their way into port.  (We were on the Mariner of the Seas).  The snorkling in Cozumel was great, but...it was cloudy and cool!

Finally, on the last day of our cruise the sun came out and it was warm enough to hang out by the pool!  That almost didn't matter, though, because it was so nice to take a break from life, be lazy, and enjoy spending time as a couple.  I know it will be a few years before we can do anything like this again so I tried to savor every minute, even the ones that didn't quite turn out as planned!

We owe a huge thanks to Edie and Grandad for hanging out with EC all week.  By all reports she had a blast, and since we got daily reports via text message we didn't feel too out of the loop either.

Christmas in February?

I am so far behind on the blog! Ahhh! I'm going to try to catch up slowly but surely, starting with some Christmas pics. This year Edie, Grandad, and Gigi (my mom's mom) shared Christmas with us here in Clovis. Enjoy the pictures!

 Prepping the dessert spread with Mom

 Christmas morning with Edie

 Breakfast with Grandad

 A little overwhelmed by all the presents!

 4 generations

Hall family pic!

I am so far behind on the blog!  Ahhh!  I'm going to try to catch up slowly but surely, starting with some Christmas pics.  This year Edie, Grandad, and Gigi (my mom's mom) shared Christmas with us here in Clovis.  Enjoy the pictures!

Evie Turns 1!!!

I know we've been missing for a while, and I have so much to catch up on, but what better place to start than with Evie's first birthday?  We celebrated December 2-4 with family and friends in Clovis.  Edie, Grandad, Grammy, Pops, Papaw, and Aunt Andrea all came out for the festivities!  Evie had a joint birthday party with her BFF Sophia, who is two days older than she is.  I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

 Having some fun with Edie on her birthday morning.  What a chunk!

 Where is Grandad's nose?

 The fabulous cake!  Made by a fellow USAF wife.

 Mommy and the birthday girl are ready to par-tay!

  A quick pre-party snuggle with Grammy, Pops, and Aunt Andrea

 She loves her Daddy!

 Sliding with Edie on her present from Mom and Dad

 It's my party (and my bedtime) and I'll be pooped if I want to!

 Smash cake

 Mom and BG again post cake

 Loving some Edie Sunday morning (Gifts had to be pushed until Sunday due to a total post-party meltdown).

 I could get used to this!

 Fun times with new toys!

What do you get a baby Baylor Bear?  Not a rocking horse, but a rocking BEAR, of course!

More posts to come from Baylor Homecoming and beyond, but I hope this will tide you over.