Smile!

Abigail's first real smiling picture!

What I wouldn't give...

What I wouldn't give for a big hug and kiss from my Mr. Sykes. Missing him really stinks. But on the plus side at least I have him to miss<3

Oh, and baby girl is cooing, ahing, and ah gooing. She's adorable.

Grandpa and Abi fell asleep after a long day of shopping. 

She wanted to try out Grandma's sunglasses. She's a fashionista already!

Oh the joys of parenthood

Actually, I should have titled this the joys of my post pregnant body.

Sure, I knew that I would have to make some sacrifices. I just couldn't comprehend until I saw the changes.

Let's talk pre baby first. I have been an athlete my whole life. I've had a thin, toned body for as long as I can remember. After high school I gained a little, not a lot, of weight. I didn't even notice so I couldn't tell you when I started gaining. All I know is that I bought a size 8 wedding gown in August of 2009 and by our wedding January of 2010 I was probably more like a size 4 gown. Thankfully my dress was a thick, poofy dress so it was hard to tell that I was swimming in it and literally had to push my stomach and boobs out to hold it up.

I was actually working on losing weight right before we found out we were pregnant. I was a little sad because at 135 lbs I was really close to my goal weight.

By the end of my pregnancy I was 165lbs and my muscles had completely disappeared.

As of right now, I weigh 140 lbs and my muscles are still non existent. Unfortunately this makes getting back into shape really hard. Ab work outs are nearly impossible. Boo.

But I'm not worried about my weight or muscles. I know I can get back to where I want to be within a couple months. My big concern are my poor boobies.

I thought I was extremely lucky because I didn't get stretch marks on my stomach. That was until I realized they had settled in on my boobs. I never got much bigger during my pregnancy it was immediately after she was born. I got so severely engorged that I looked like I had DD boobs. I'm talking huge pam anderson titties. Ginormous Jugs. You get my point. So anyways, I'm pretty sure because those suckers grew so fast over night that has to be the reason for the stretch marks.

I'm really sad about the marks but what's a real depressing fact is that my boobs are saggy now. Sure, this could be a huge tmi but it's my blog so click the little red x if you can't handle it. I went bathing suit shopping and none of the tops look good. I'm seriously considering a full piece.

RIP firm boobies :-(

And the last thing that really annoys me about my post baby body is this stupid linea nigra. Or how ever it's spelled or called. You know what I'm talking about? That dark line down the center of my belly. My mom and grandma said they never got it but I know others that have. It's due to increased hormone levels. I thought it would go away at most a couple weeks after she was born. Apparently it's going to be a couple months until it disappears. It's so creepy.

So I guess at the end of the day I have to be thankful for the lack of stretch marks on my tummy, even though they are on my boobs and a couple on my butt (which is also not as pretty as it used to be, but I'm working on that). Also that it was so easy to lose all my baby weight, I think because I was all belly, and should be easy to tone up again.

I will take not fitting in my pre baby clothes because they are too big over not having stretch marks any day.

But seriously none of it really matters. I have a beautiful daughter and a husband who loves me at my worst. Although we do have an agreement that neither of us can get fat. But that's another story.

Hello World

So I was doing my usual blog reading and I came across this post. She was seeing where her viewers are finding her page.

I remembered I have a stat counter so I checked it out to see if I could do the same. Not only did I find where people are finding my page but I can see where you are viewing from!! And let me tell you, I am impressed!

I have had people check out my blog from Brazil, Japan, Australia, even the Netherlands!! Sure, most of them probably just google searched and clicked my blog then realized just how exciting I am and exited out, but still... the internet always amazes me!

So here is my shout out to the world... Welcome to my blog! :-) Thanks for stopping by! The only other language I can speak is french (ironically one of the countries not viewing my blog) so Bonjour! Bienvenue!

Is there a way to type french letters on an english keyboard? I never thought about that before. Trickyyy.

Anyways, Adios! That's the only spanish I know. So awful I know, I just don't have the intelligence for another language.

When the going gets tough...

My mom told me today about a woman who carried her baby to 7 or 8 months and then gave birth to a still born child. All I could think about was why God would put someone through that kind of pain. Of course I know that He has a plan. Sometimes horrible things happen just for the simplicity of appreciation to occur. I wonder if he is challenging our faith? Our ability to trust in His plan even though it feels like nothing good could come of this.

I've questioned my faith multiple times. I've battled feeling vs proof over and over again. Feeling always wins.

When things get difficult I always remind myself that He is taking care of me and there is nothing to worry about. I have to tell myself that everything happens for a reason no matter how hard it is to bear.

I believe that without my faith I would not be the person I am today. Every day I get stronger, nicer, happier, more loving, more respectful, wiser, and just better.  He has guided me to become the person I have always wanted to be. Sure, I've had some real struggles but through those struggles I've learned more about myself and who I wanted to be.

Some people say they have regrets. I have no regrets but instead mistakes to learn from. If we use our pasts to mold our futures then we have no choice but to become better individuals.

Alright, enough of my religion rambling. I'm just missing my husband a lot tonight and reminding myself that this is all serving some sort of purpose helps me get through it.

By the way, in no way am I or would I ever push my religion on anyone. I am simply spilling my thoughts.

North Carolina Ladies

Is everyone from NC ok? Does anyone need anything? I don't know what the damage is or anything really I just know there is damage and people are hurt.

If anyone needs anything please let me know.

Baby brain

Ok I thought that we were supposed to get baby brain while we were pregnant. You know, like putting the milk in the cupboard or forgetting to put shoes on and going to the store in our slippers. Well I never did any of that, until after the little girl arrived.

I did go to the store in my slippers on accident. It's getting worse and worse. I barely remember anything. I have to write everything down. I have a bad enough memory without this, now I'm just screwed.

My memory before only allowed me to have short term memories, now with baby brain I don't even have that. I feel like I'm living each day just to forget everything tomorrow.

I need a memory pill or something.