On Her Way

Hey Everyone!

Ben often tells me that I will miss these early years. I sometimes agree and sometimes want to punch him in the face. The days are long, but the years are short, right? Listen, parenting is hard. My children rarely play with their toys. They love being outside, they love climbing anything and everything, they love running in circles, they love pushing each other, they love getting into things, and they love pushing buttons. I go insane almost on the daily. I'm not sure I could do this without Jesus. Truthfully.

Just within the last couple of weeks though it happened. I started really wanting Ruby to slow down. She talks so much and it is SO much fun. The things she says, the things she repeats, what she does and says with Stella. I wish I could bottle it all up, or just have a camera in our house that records her all the time. It is so bittersweet seeing her grow. We were going on a walk the other day and we were in the booming downtown of Maple Lake. Ruby climbed up these steps and had her hands on her hips just looking out. You guys, it looked like she was taking a senior picture and I about starting weeping like a little baby right there and then. It made me realize how blessed I am to be able to stay at home and raise these babies. She has become scared of being alone. She won't go downstairs by herself. She won't go down for a nap or go to sleep at night if someone isn't laying down by her crib. Although at nap time today we opened the shades a little bit and Ben rubbed her back for a minute and then she was fine. Tonight I was putting her down and turned on a nightlight and that didn't work. I'm hoping it eventually passes. Any tips?

Stella is a hoot you guys. She has such a big personality, although the outside world may never believe it because she gets pretty shy in front of people. She is so mellow and easy going. She could sit and play with toys by herself, but prefers chasing Ruby around and doing whatever Ruby is doing. She loves to climb and she LOVES to eat. This girl seems to always be hungry. So far she is showing to be a vegetarian though. She will eat ground beef if it is in spaghetti or something, but that is kind of it. She screams loudly. She is talking and will pretty much at least try to repeat what you tell her to say. I think she is officially down to one nap a day. This makes me SUPER happy because I wasn't able to do a lot with my MOMS club stuff because of this. Now it should get a little bit better!

Ben goes back to school on Monday. Well, he has a week of inservice and then starts back with kids on the day after labor day. It's a little sad for me. I have loved having him home. He is such an incredible dad you guys. He plays with the girls, he takes them downstairs when I'm trying to get something done. He is present with them and they adore spending time with him. I know that not all dads are like that and so I'm just so thankful and truly blessed that these girls have Ben as their dad. I am looking forward to having more of a schedule each day though. I need it and I think the girls need it. Ben I think is looking forward to this school year. He has some fun classes that he is teaching this quarter. It is really fun running into some of Ben's students around town. You can tell they respect Ben and have fun with him. Even though Ben comes home deflated some days, he knows that what he is doing is making an impact. His heart for those students is pretty huge.

I'm loving my role as stay at home mom still. It is the hardest thing I've ever done, but I would NEVER change it for a second. I love that I'm getting my health back in check. I've been running outside in preparation for a 5K that I will be doing. I'm hoping to do one for Thanksgiving, but we'll see. I love doing my at home workouts. I love creating a healthy lifestyle for my family. I love helping other women get healthy as well. Helping people is my love language and I feel like this is just one way that I can do that. I will be starting MOPS again this fall, I'm apart of MOMS Club, and I will also be in a new ministry that is starting at our church called Propel. I love being around people and I love that our community offers so much for women!

I feel like this world is pretty broken right now. I hear stories of brokenness and hate. We see it on the news every night. It is my goal to show joy and happiness. Does it mean that I'm always joyful or always happy? Heck no. Sometimes Facebook is bad in the way that it makes people's lives seem perfect. BUT, if I can help turn someone's day around I'm going to try. I want to be someone that encourages others, lifts others up, and show joy and laughter daily. I love my people and I want you all to know that I care so much about you and it is my prayer that you see joy in the little things and big things and trust that God has a plan and purpose for your life. You are valued!

He is the best. 

This is Ruby's Senior Picture and the spot where I about lost it. Babies don't keep. 

They are joyful. 

I had a rare moment of peace this afternoon while these girls napped. It was beautiful! 

The Shift is OVER!

Hey Everyone,

As some of you know, I just completed 21 days of a new exercise/nutrition program called Shift Shop. 21 days of workouts and 21 days of a new nutrition program. I will let you know what I thought about all of it in a second. I want to talk to you a little bit about what has been on my heart and I truly believe it is because of this program. I not only shifted physically, but I think even more importantly I shifted mentally.

Throughout this journey I lost pounds. I lost inches. I gained confidence. I added an (old) pair of jeans to my wardrobe that weren't fitting before. I added energy. Here's the thing you guys. That is not what shifted most of all.

Throughout this 21 days, I learned and realized so much. By week three we had to cut out all carbohydrates. This was REALLY hard. I mean, really hard. I learned something by doing this however. When I deprive myself of something that I love, I fall off the deep end. I crashed and burned a couple of times over the last week and I think it is because I was so deprived. I know that sounds so dramatic and maybe even pathetic. BUT, it made me realize that it is the reason why I love the 21 day fix so much and believe that it is my key to success. Is it for everyone? Nope, but boy is it for me! I LOVE that I get to eat good food in the correct portions. I love the way that I feel when I'm doing the 21 day fix. Those days that I told you about where I crashed and burned? Guess what...I slept HORRIBLY at night. I had weird dreams and kept waking up thinking really bazar things. Now yes, that could happen anyway, but not only did I not sleep well, I felt like crap. I didn't have energy, I was more irritable. It was just not fun. It made me want to eat clean and healthy again because I just craved the way it made me feel.

I also realized something else that is very significant. Weight loss for me is a journey. A slow one, but I'm learning the correct way of losing weight. It isn't a snap your fingers and boom your skinny and healthy. You know what happens with those crash diets? You gain weight back. How many of you have gained weight back after losing a lot of it? I'm not someone who can lose weight and then eat whatever I want. This is a healthy journey, folks. This is a journey of getting healthy. That brings me to my next point. It isn't about my appearance, although nice. I have been slowly learning through this journey as well to not care what people think of me. It has been a struggle I have dealt with for as long as I can remember. I care too much about what people are thinking about me, what people think of my husband, what people think of my family, etc. Guess what. That is exhausting. I'm focusing on me. How can I become the best ME. As I'm working on becoming the best version of myself both mentally and physically I'm realizing that I can pour out so much more love to my people.

There is SO much hate and crime going on in our world. What is happening in Virginia is sickening. It makes me sick to think that there is still so much hatred. I'm working so hard on becoming the woman that God created me to be. He created me to love people and point others to Him. He created me with a healthy body that should glorify Him. That is what I'm going for. Healthy habits, healthy body, healthy relationships. I want you all to know how much I love you. I know this post is all over the place, but that is just how my mama brain works, okay?

I know that most of you know that I'm on a journey to being healthy. Some of you may or may not know that I'm a health coach as well. I'm currently going through my health journey, but I'm also encouraging others to do it with me! I would love to share with you what I'm doing. What my nutrition plan looks like, what my exercises look like, what it looks like with two VERY busy children. Please reach out and let me know if you are interested in this. I would LOVE to chat with you and encourage you in any way I can. One of my favorite things about this journey is all the people I have been able to talk to about this.

I have a really exciting announcement coming on Facebook tomorrow night! Stay tuned....

These were basically my results! :) I love that I'm getting smaller, but even more than that I LOVE that I'm getting HEALTHY! 

I love having the energy to walk with these girls! 

Stella is such a sweetie, but more importantly she is one of my reasons WHY! 

This girl has my heart. She drives me nuts, she makes me laugh, she makes me cry, she is another one of my reasons WHY! :) 

Shift Shop Week 2 and The Doctor

Hey Everyone,

My new exercise program is entering its third and final week. Can I get an amen? I'm not going to lie. Last week was hard. My motivation started slipping and the eating plan called for less carbs. My name is Anne Harvey and I'm addicted to carbs. Seriously though, the only carbohydrate I ate last week was either a potato or a sweet potato. It was mad.

I had a pretty busy week last week and a lot of things that were not typical in my schedule. That usually calls for some cheating and lack of exercise. Now, I did do a little bit of both. There was one night where I had toast. I also noticed that I wasn't working out as hard as I normally do. I think that is just life though. The point of all of that is just knowing that I didn't give up all together was a big shift! Oh, one more thing that I noticed is that I wanted to cheat a WHOLE lot more when I knew I was being deprived of my beloved carbohydrates. It was a big time struggle. I think that is why I love the 21 day fix program so much with the containers. I don't really ever feel like I'm completely deprived of something.

I'm down another pound and 3 inches. Is it as much as the first week? Nope! Did I struggle a little more this week? Yep! Any pound and any inch lost is success in my book.

Now, on Friday I went to the doctor to have my physical done. I was really nervous you guys! After my dad died, I think I just always fear the worst. I fear the worst for my girls and I fear the worst for me. It is something that I'm working through daily. Standing on the promises of God is what I'm praying about daily. Anyway, I went in thinking well, what if I have type 2 diabetes. I had gestational diabetes with Ruby. I didn't have it with Stella, which was kind of interesting. Anyway, I was nervous about my thyroid. After I had Ruby my thyroid went from being hyperactive to normal. It was kind of strange too. Pregnancy and birth does crazy things I tell you what. Anyway, I was just really nervous with all of these things. I'm glad to report that all my test results came back normal. I'm not diabetic and my thyroid function is normal. This gave me a big boost in my spirits and I'm ready to continue my health journey.

That is exactly what this is. My health journey. Do I want to be skinny? You bet I do. But what I want even more than that is to be healthy. I want to be healthy for my two tiny humans who call me mommy. I want to be healthy for my husband who calls me wifey. I want to be healthy for all my titles. Most importantly I want to be healthy for me and who God created me to be.

I have a virtual challenge group that is starting next Monday. I won't be doing the shift shop program again, but I do recommend it. So far women in my group are doing different workout programs.

I will be sharing some of my favorite go to recipes for a busy schedule. I will be sharing tips and trips that I have learned along the way. I will be motivating ladies on the daily. I really can't wait for this next group. It is going to be run on Facebook in a private group. What happens in my groups stays in my groups. :) Until you want to share with the world your awesome results that is! ;) Please don't hesitate to message me on Facebook. Email me at anne.harvey7@gmail.com Message me for my phone number if you would rather chat. My group is almost full, but I would be willing to run two groups!

I love you guys and look I'm looking forward to what week 3 has in store!