Erin Akin Carroll

See this little guy? Look at him just lying there, sleeping. He’d cry quite a bit. He didn’t respond much to us. I wished so badly that he would give us some little sign that he knew we were there. About a month later, he smiled.

Then we started wanting him to laugh and roll over. He did that, too.

When he started rolling over, he started sleeping on his tummy, so that gave us a lot of cause for concern. We wanted him to sit up, so he could do better at restaurants and be part of the family meals. And he did.

Ever since he started sitting up, we’ve been just waiting for the day that he’d crawl. We couldn’t wait for him to crawl. Guess what? A week ago, at 7 1/2 months old, he started crawling. Hands and knees crawling. And guess what? He’s into everything! Everyone warned us not to wish for this day, and they were right.

Dog bowls, books, shelves, chewing on rugs, immediately reaching for the electrical sockets and cords, and pulling up on everything. There have been a few collisions and a lot of tears. But he’s proud of himself, and I’m proud for him!

Changing his diaper is nothing short of difficult. And you better hope he only tinkled because the chances of having a giant mess because he’s wiggling and squirming and crawling and nearly diving off the changing table is pretty great.

It’s true that I didn’t appreciate the days with a baby who rarely did anything at all other than sleep and cry. I wouldn’t go back to those days, but I’m starting to think that the key to my weight loss is going to be chasing around this little crawling boy!

Some of you noticed yesterday, but I wanted to make an announcement today that Blue-Eyed Bride has a new header! The amazingly talented Ashley Brooke Designs created a brand new header for me and I’m so excited! I wanted a combination of the former header, but with a little more artwork to showcase some of the most important parts of my life.

I think she hit the nail on the head!

the former header (also designed by Ashley Brooke Designs)…

…and the new header

I am a huge fan of Ashley Brooke’s work, and I’m so excited to announce that she is the first official sponsor of Blue-Eyed Bride! You’ll notice her logo in the right sidebar on the home page, and if you click on the “Sponsors” tab on the menu bar, you’ll see all of the work that Ashley Brooke Designs has created for my family, showers that I’ve hosted, and for my personal use.

I’m so proud to call her a friend!

Head over to Ashley Brooke Designs to see her Valentines That Give and make your purchase. All of the proceeds go toward relief in Haiti. Tomorrow, January 22, is the last day to place your order. You can email Ashley Brooke at info@ashleybrookedesigns.com to place an order.

I am on board the fit train and I’m not planning on getting off any time soon. Because it’s working!

I’ve had a great week and I lost 4 pounds from last Wednesday to today. I’ve been counting points and haven’t gone over my points yet. I’m saving up my flex points for the weekend, so I can enjoy myself when the opportunity presents itself.

I’ve also been going to the gym on a regular basis. I have gone four times each week for the past two weeks. I started going to Body Pump classes and I love it. It’s a huge challenge and completely wears me out, but I’m enjoying it. It’s obvious the I’m getting stronger already. My clothes are already fitting better and I am very encouraged.

When I geti n my groove with counting points, I get so into it! I love the challenge and find it so much easier to resist something bad when I’ve spent four days being good and avoiding bad things. Why throw all of that away on a cupcake?

I want to share my meals with you and hopefully give you all some ideas of what you can eat and cook at home.

For breakfast, I’ve been eating one of three things:

1) Weight Watchers 2 point bagel with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray and all fruit strawberry preserves (3 points)

2) an Egg Beaters egg white omelet with one triangle of sliced Laughing Cow Swiss cheese (3 points)

3) Special K protein cereal with skim milk (4 points)

The omelet is my favorite breakfast option because it contains so much protein and really keeps me full until lunch.

For lunch, I eat a Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones. I really do enjoy these.

For dinner, I’ve been cooking. One of the hardest things about sticking to Weight Watchers is keeping your husband’s tummy satisfied. This is where the Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast cookbook comes in. These are our choices for supper this week and they’re all linked to the recipe on myrecipes.com. I figured up the points per serving using my points calculator. Cooking Light provides all the nutritional information, so it’s easy to keep track of what you’re eating. If you substitute ingredients, be sure to account for that when calculating your Points.

Black Bean and Corn-Topped Potatoes 5 Points (so delicious! We ate these on Saturday and Sunday and Todd absolutely loved them!)

Portobello and Black Bean Quesadillas 5 Points (again, completely delicious and completely satisfying! Dipped in salsa, these were even better.)

Grilled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with Spicy Avocado Spread 7 Points (I made this last night and plan on making them again tonight. I only make enough chicken for one night’s worth. But they took 5 minutes to prepare and they were so yummy!)

Creamy Garlic Shrimp and Pasta 7 Points (On the menu for Thursday night and I can’t wait. I’m such a sucker for pasta.)

Grilled Chicken with Rustic Mustard Cream 6 Points (We’ll make this on Friday night or Saturday night, depending on when we might leave room to go out to dinner.)

The only meals that really need a side dish are the grilled chicken and the BBQ chicken sandwich. I used Baked Lays for the sandwich and steamed broccoli for the grilled chicken. The chips were 2 points and the broccoli was 0 points.

I planned out all the meals on Saturday afternoon and we went grocery shopping on Sunday for everything. It has been so nice to have everything in the house and not have to run out to pick up any last minute items.

So now I’m losing weight and making myself more domesticated! It’s a win/win!

How did you do this week?

I’m just elated after last night’s Golden Globe awards! Y’all know I’m obsessed with Glee. It’s brilliantly written, the singers are fantastic, and it gives me my Broadway and pop music fix every week.

Well two of my favorite things of the night were:

1) The beautiful Lea Michele in her fantastic Oscar de la Renta gown. Some people say she should have worn a more age appropriate dress, but geez. For her first Golden Globes appearance, I say, “bravo” to Lea. Strut that big Oscar masterpiece! She looked fantastic. It’s a shame she can’t just walk around singing all the time. I’d listen!

2.) Glee won the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy Television Series. I hope this means that Glee is here to stay. Good thing Jay Leno isn’t on FOX!

My new obsession (I’m late to this party), Mad Men, won top honors in its category. So it was a pretty great night! It’s wonderful to see so many beautiful gowns in one location!