Fast-forward two months...

I can't believe two months have passed since my last post in February.  So much has happened!  Our fingerprints were approved.  We have been cleared to bring a child into America.  We sent our dossier to China in March and received our log-in date in April.  Our agency believes we should be matched with our child this month when the next shared list is released.  Both of us are excited for this next step, as we are looking forward to finding out just who our little Panda might be!

So on the adoption front things are going well.  In the meantime, I have been working on some other things in preparation for becoming a mommy.  I think it's no secret that I have struggled with my weight for the past decade or so.  Two years ago, I decided to do something about it for once and for all.  I talked Caolon into joining Weight Watchers with me and we started eating better and exercising.  After about 4 months, we'd each lost 30 lbs.  That was great!  Then last year, when my mom got sick, we (well, mostly I) got lazy (well mostly depressed), stopped following the program, and started eating Dairy Queen Blizzards daily as a means of satiating the depression.  We still went to the WW meetings.  They still collected our money.  But otherwise we were back to our old habits.  And I gained 10 lbs.

Now that I'm starting to feel a little distance from losing my mom (which is actually just a new kind of sad), and now that we are starting to think as parents and realizing we can't just live for ourselves anymore (which is actually an awesome anticipation), we decided to get back in gear and lose the rest of our weight.  In February, we got serious about WW again, started eating better, stopped eating ice cream (as much), started working out (a lot), and I'm down 15 lbs!  That means I've lost a total of 35 lbs from when I originally started and I feel fantastic about that!  I've only got 25 to go before I am at my goal.  Here are some before/after pics to give you an idea (the first one is a little dark, but it's the best I had - I hid from cameras a lot in 2010.)


Me in 2010 when my niece was born.

Me on our trip to WDW last month.

In addition, I started the couch to 5K running plan and am almost finished.  I'm running 25 minutes now with no problem.  It's amazing!  I feel like beating this weight issue is going to make me a better mother.  I will be able to raise Panda to eat healthier by setting the example, and I will have more energy and ability to play with him/her now that I'm more active and in shape. 

I've also been working on other things.  Working on growing closer to God so that my heart is more ready to serve as parent.  Working on getting our home ready so that it is more prepared to house a toddler.  Working on planning our upcoming summer so that our minds and bodies can be rested and ready for the little one.  And just plain...well...working.

So if I've been gone from my blog a little too long, just know that things are moving.  Good stuff is happening.  Let's keep moving forward!