Project #walk365 {November}

This post is so late that I almost skipped it, but I want it here for posterity. So here goes!

In January of 2015 I set a goal to walk 365 miles during the year. I meant it as a goal to walk every day, and for the first half of the year I did just that.

During the second half of the year walking daily wasn't as easy to do, so I upped the miles on the days I did walk (usually two miles per day). I made my 365-mile goal on my birthday in early October, despite a hot summer, a cross-country move, and being pregnant!

But November. November was hard! It was the last month of my pregnancy and as you can see by the pictures, we started to get snow! I cut back my miles to only 5 a week, and tried to get out as much as I could.

I did ok in the rain and slush and cold, but around Thanksgiving we had ice. I walked two more times and threw in the towel! Walking on ice at 38 weeks? No thanks! My total miles logged for #walk365 was 413.

Overall, I'm super proud of myself! I think walking made a huge difference in my pregnancy. Most of the time I felt pretty good and my weight gain stayed in the healthy range.

My goal for 2016 is to walk 500 miles. I know it's not a big difference from 2015's 413, but we're nearly a month into the year and I've walked less than 1 mile!* I'm still recovering from a c-section, I have a newborn, and it's cold and snowy outside, so I'm not going to worry about it yet! With those things in mind, I think #walk500 is a great goal.

*I purposefully go on a walk or log mileage on my treadmill. I use Runkeeper and only log these intentional miles, not the daily mileage I might get around the house or running errands. I think that's great too, but wanted to clarify what "counts" for me.

If you want to walk with me, you know, virtually, I'll be using the hashtag #walk500 or you can follow me on Instagram. I'm gibsongirl726.

Thanks for reading!

Pregnancy #4: 40 Weeks & Summary

Ok, this is the last of these pregnancy posts! This was a fun little marker for me to do each week.

The weather turned cold in November, so week 37 is the last one shot outside. I also had to start going to the hospital each week for non-stress tests given my "advanced maternal age".

By week 38 I had cut back to walking only half a mile 5 times a week, and it took me half an hour to do! I stopped walking right after Thanksgiving because we had so much snow and the roads were even icy. I just didn't want to risk falling!

I had some anxiety during this pregnancy, something I've never struggled with before. I know some of it was over the planned c-section and I worried that by week 39 I'd be a mess! Thankfully, my stress seemed to go down as the date approached, and I was fairly calm going to the hospital and heading for surgery. I plan to do a full birth story at some point, but not here or now.

Technically this was 39 weeks 5 days, and Jocelyn was born 39 weeks 6 days. I made sure to get the Christmas tree decorated before the baby, but we really kept Christmas simple this year.

So to recap, here's a look back at weeks 18-40!

Thanks for coming along with me on this journey! Here's to NOT being pregnant anymore!

Life Lately: January 2016

Well hello there! I really disappeared! Again. For two months.

But I'm back now and have high hopes for my blog this year. More of that later; for now I'd like to catch the blog up on the last few weeks of 2015.

November was the last month of my pregnancy. I finally really started to slow down. I kept walking (post to come)

and kept up my healthy habits and doctor appointments and non-stress tests for the baby and posting weekly pictures of my ever-growing tummy (post to come).

And then on November 30, our daughter was born!

Jocelyn's birth was a planned c-section and everything went fine. The whole thing was bigger and scarier and has taken longer to heal than I had thought, and it's been harder to adjust to having a newborn again. I'll write up her birth story for posterity, eventually.

Jocelyn, 5 Days Old

I do think that things are returning to normal, or becoming our new normal as we adjust to being a family of 6. The boys are such good big brothers! They are just enamored with their baby sister, and have been very loving and helpful.

We had three simple Christmas celebrations, one with each of the Grandmas who came to meet Jocelyn and help out during those tough first weeks. We also celebrated with just our family on Christmas Day.

This winter in Northern Idaho has been very snowy, but coming from almost 10 years in the Midwest, it's also pretty and warm(er)!

In the Midwest, snow is usually accompanied by wind, and after the snow stops falling there is more wind, and it's just so cold! Here there's no wind and temperatures seem to stick to around 30, so the snow sticks to trees and fences and the roads stay clear. Much better!

 So Merry Christmas from our family to yours, and Happy New Year!

 Thanks for reading my blog!

Introducing Our Baby Girl

Jocelyn Elyse was born on November 30, 2015.

Everything went according to plan and she is absolutely perfect.

We are thrilled that she has joined our family, and have had so much fun getting to know her during the last 6 weeks.

Life seems to be slipping into a new normal as Jocelyn is starting to sleep better and I'm finally feeling better. We're looking forward to what 2016 has in store for our family of six!

Pregnancy #4: 36 Weeks

I can't believe baby girl is 36 weeks along! Seems like time is flying, but it also seems like I've been pregnant forever!

I've been working on a few things in the baby's room. I moved the wall unit in from the bathroom to hang above the changing table. I had a shelf with knobs on it, but I think this will be more functional for diaper changing and dressing our baby girl.

I also went through baby's clothes, pulling out the newborn stuff and making a stack of things to take to the hospital. I'm starting to feel that I should go ahead and pack that bag, but my other babies have been over 41 weeks, so I think I'm ok for now.

 Our little girl is not lacking for shoes! Aren't they fun? She has at least 10 pairs!

As for me, I still feel pretty good, usually. I do get tired easily. We were very busy this weekend and with the time change, I've been going to bed pretty early! I'm still walking (my October review is here) and can still do a mile, though I'm much slower than I was a few weeks ago. Everything looked fine at my last doctor's appointment. Starting this week, I go every week, and because of my "advanced maternal age" I'll be doing a non-stress test each week as well.

I've hesitated sharing this on the blog because people are so opinionated, but a list of factors has made us opt for a scheduled c-section this time around. I've had one before and felt strongly in favor of natural births for my 2nd and 3rd babies, but here we are again! It's definitely different to have a day scheduled instead of waiting for baby to decide.

I thought it would be fun to do a series of weekly shots starting with 18 weeks when we learned this baby is a girl. She (and I) has definitely grown!

That red shirt sure stands out! I actually am wearing it in my 35 week photo, but it looked so similar to the 33 week shot that I changed it to black and white. I do love red...

Only one more update to go!

Project #walk365 {October}

You guys! I'm still walking!

Seriously. This is kindof a big deal!

My original goal was to walk 365 miles in 2015, an average of one mile a day, obviously. At the beginning of the year, the other part was to walk every day. I'm taking weekends off now, but I'm also growing another human, and I passed the 365 mile marker back at the beginning of October! So the goal has changed along the way, but the point is that I'm still walking!

1. Oh look--feet! I've decided to set my October goal to 1 1/2 miles 5 days a week. Hope that will keep me motivated but not overwhelmed.
2. Just an early morning walk with a rafter of turkeys. That's Idaho!
3. Bam! 365 miles complete! I'm not quitting my walks quite yet though! (It just so happened that this milestone was on my 40th birthday!)
4. I'm having to walk later in the day because mornings are cold and dark. Glad I have a schedule that allows for that!
5. We live by a tree farm and it's fun to see the colors en masse on my walks.
6. Same tree farm as yesterday. Still pretty!

1. Aren't the clouds cool? So was the weather. Should have dressed a little warmer, but it still beats being hot!
2. Old MacDonald's barn is my turn-around spot these days. (Seriously, that's the name on the mailbox!)
3. My, what long legs I have! The bump is getting more prominent.
4. The hills are highlighted with yellow and orange!
5. I love fall! We've been having frosty nights and warm days with plenty of sunshine. Wish you could see the mountains better.
6. Not a bad view on my walk today.

1. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! 380 total miles this year!
2. We showed the boys the joy of geocaching today! It was great for the first three caches but the fourth had us scaling mountains and watching out for bears! We never did find it.
3. Sunset over Lake Pend Orielle (part of the geocaching adventure).
4. We got rain last night so the sky is clean and the grass and trees are sparkling.

1. I want to walk down this road to see where it goes! Sadly it's private property.
2. It was 39* when I left for my walk with frost still in the shade.
3. Did you know there are deciduous conifers? I just learned about tamarack trees this week. They're pretty!
4. It was still frosty and a cold 34* at 8 AM and I had to bundle up for my walk!

1. There's snow on the mountain behind the clouds!
2. The rain has greened up the grass, even as the leaves are falling.
3. On a whim we tried the Viewpoint Trail at Priest Lake. When you start at the lake there will be climbing involved to get to said viewpoint! Climbing is hard when you're 34 weeks pregnant! The view and the feeling of accomplishment were worth it though.
4. Celebratory selfie at the top of the Viewpoint Trail at Priest Lake.
5. Thankful for a break in the rain for my walk today. I like rain but not getting wet.
6. There was finally another break in the rain and I got my 1.5 miles in! Technically it's November, but I need one more for October, so I'm counting it! Also, more snow on the mountains!

Ok, so my last October walk was really in November, but I'm totally justifying it. Both Friday and Saturday were really rainy and really busy, and I just couldn't make myself walk in the rain. That brings me to a total of 33 miles in October, and 396 miles total for 2015. Yay!

My goal for November--taking into consideration that it's weeks 36-39 of my pregnancy, there's Thanksgiving and the weather might just include snow before the end of the month--is one mile a day, five days a week. That's only 20 more miles! I will take December off (hello, baby!) and slowly ease back into walking in January, if the weather allows.

Have you kept your exercise goals for 2015?