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Well 2009 is days away and this Monday was the final check in day for the Looking Fine by 2009 challenge hosted by Jen @ Daily Mish Mash. When I started this challenge I was 223 pounds and really had no idea what I was doing, how I was going to lose weight, or how long it would take me – all I really knew was that I was tired of this – tired of looking like this and doing absolutely nothing about it. I knew I wanted something to change.

It was a long road, and I can’t say that I’ve lost a ton of weight and look incredible – this morning I weighed in at 216, up half a pound from last week actually – but at 7 pounds lighter, I can say that the journey has been worth it, because I do have a plan now – I do know what I’m doing more or less and I can see the future in sight. There will be stumbles, I’m sure, especially because at the tail end of November I found out I was pregnant (hurray!) and a couple weeks ago I was advised by my doctor to start taking in an extra 300 calories.

The name of my game for losing weight has become calorie counting and I was eating 1750 calories a day and for a few weeks I was losing weight easily and it was awesome and I was pumped. But I really did need the extra calories to keep me going so I can’t complain. Apart from this past week I still continued to lose weight – and really this past weekend I kind of briefly threw in the towel to enjoy the holidays and relax – so only gaining half a pound is pretty impressive I think. Now Christmas is over and I’m getting back on track and while I don’t think I’ll do better than losing half a pound a week, I can accept that because, dude, I’m having a baby.

Just before my first trimester symptoms really started to sink in I even found a work out that I really love – Leslie Sansone’s Walk Away The Pounds DVD proved to be incredible in my eyes – which is really saying something because I tried and hated a lot of dvds before finding this one. Now the fatigue has set in and the slightly brisk pace of Sansone’s system is really a bit much for me – but I know that when this fatigue lets up that I’ll be eagerly looking forward to getting back to walking at home when the weather is too frightful to walk outside – and thanks to my bestie Ange @ Red Knows How – I can do that ASAP because she bought me one of the DVDs for my birthday! Thanks bestie!

Come 2009 I may not be looking as fine as I’d hoped, but I will be feeling fine because I have a plan and I have the patience to wait for it while I wait for my baby also. I will be seven pounds lighter and my conscience will be lighter because I know I’m trying to make a change – and really that’s all that matters. 2009 isn’t the end of this journey for me – if anything, it is only the beginning and I’m looking forward to that journey with all my heart.

So I’d like to thank Jen @ Daily Mish Mash for inspiring me with this challenge. I’d like to thank my bestie Ange @ Red Knows How for turning me onto the Walk Away The Pounds exercise DVDs. I’d like to thank my husband for encouraging me on this diet and for talking me into trying this calorie counting thing – sometimes it’s a pain in the butt – but it’s undeniably worth it. Lastly, I’d like to thank you – all my readers who have been cheering me on from the beginning, even when I maybe didn’t deserve it yet – this community is an inspiring way of finding the motivation to be the persons we want to be and I’m not sure I could have done it without you. Thank you.

I only took pictures of Christmas morning, making the executive decision to enjoy the rest of the day without lugging around the D40. So here are some shots of the morning and a few of the presents he got first thing, but there was much, much more later as we went from our apartment that morning to four other locations, and didn’t get home until about 10pm – which doesn’t sound late except that MM’s bedtime is way closer to 7pm. He did soooo good – I think his poor prego momma was more tired and cranky about being up late than he was! Anyway, enough blabbering, here are some pictures, first of the tree, stockings, etc. before they were ripped into – the calm before the storm…

And now, the loot…

Okay and now for some more blabbering on. He got the puzzle set (with a storage box) and the train set from my parents. The Mr. Potato Head came from dh’s aunt and MM has been infatuated with it ever since, when he’s not busy building train tracks or taking all the puzzles apart, Mr. P is pretty much the best thing ever. Dh’s parents also got him a bunch of cool kitcheny gadgets like a toy microwave, blender, lots of toy foods – and also a washing machine. His granny got MM a little toy loaf pan, rolling pin & a spring form pan which is kind of a family joke, and I was a little jealous that my two year old son got one and I didn’t (but being a toy, I’m not going to take the chance and find out if it’s safe to actually cook with – I’ll just keep dreaming.

Matchbox monster trucks, new pajamas and a new outfit, a barrel of monkeys, some new movies and books – wooden blocks with ABCs – and a new BED came the next day – a big twin bed since the crib mattress will be needed this summer – we figured we’d get him used to the new bed before the baby comes and steals his old one right out from under him. Which means new sheets and blankets which are all really cute – I need to remember to take pictures of that, huh? And I’m sure he got more but that’s all I can remember right now.

We got some gift cards which we used to get some new Wii video games (Call of Duty for dh, Animal Crossing for me), a couple new books, the electronic World Edition of Monopoly, and Across the Universe on DVD. My sister-in-law made me an awesome winter hat that I’m smitten with and wearing everywhere. We bought ourselves loads of chocolate and a box of clementines (can I call that a Christmas present or was that really just grocery shopping?). My in-laws got me a Christmas Memories scrap book which looks fun, but I haven’t had a chance to dig into it yet. DH got the new Trans Siberian Orchestra CD. Um and I’m a terrible Christmas present receiver and can’t think of anything else right now except that my bestie bought me the Leslie Sansone Walk Away The Pounds DVD that comes with the nifty stretchy band which I am oh so excited about!

We almost bought the Wii Fit but like morons we didn’t – big purchases scare me and we’re trying to save up moolah for the baby (not to mention the hospital stay to have the baby). I found the perfect point and shoot camera for me (I think) which I’m hoping to get for Christmas next year – I also played with a Canon Rebel in the store and was drooling over it and making a lot of ooohing and ahhhing sounds, but kept coming back to the fact that we have a Nikon D40 and don’t really need a Rebel also – what we really need is a good, sturdy little point and shoot that can fit in our pocket and be brought with us anywhere – so I’ll take more pictures at family functions because my old Canon is just starting to feel too slow and the picture quality leaves something to be desired (possibly more so with the D40 constantly showing it up) – what we need (or okay, what I want) is this Canon Powershot SD1100IS which is tiny and perfect and pretty and should be mine (hopefully by next Christmas if baby stuff goes well – and dh can save up for his laptop by then because I promised him he’d get his new laptop before I got my camera, blah blah blah stupid promises).

So, all in all, I’d say it was the perfect small Christmas – we got just enough, especially since we hadn’t gone into it wanting much. We enjoyed the season but were more than happy to take down the tree last night and get back to life as usual – until New Years Eve anyway. MM is happy as a clam and officially totally digging this Christmas thing – I know we’ll both be looking forward to Christmas 2009. And next Christmas I will finally have one good thing worth asking for!