My little pumpkin

Biggest Loser Challenge

So last year around this time, I did a biggest loser challenge online with a bunch of women I didn't know. I got 2nd place :(, but it was very helpful to have some accountability and something to motivate me towards healthy living/eating.

So, I decided to start my own challenge. Here are the details. Let me know if you're interested (excluding probably most of my blog readers who are all currently pregnant! :) )
and feel free to invite your friends too! You can let people know to email me at gretchendriesenga@gmail.com if they want to join. We won't start until October 23, so that gives us over a week to recruit some more people! Feel free to post the challenge as your status, or email friends or word of mouth. People don't need to be local to GR to participate.

Biggest Loser
October 23-December 23

Each participant will pay $10 to join. The winner of the challenge will collect 75% of the pot, 2nd place will get 15% of the pot, 3rd place will get 10% of the pot. So, obviously the more people we get involved, the bigger the pot will be.

We will weigh in and record our progress every Saturday, starting on October 23 with our starting weight. If you fail to weigh in by Saturday midnight, you will owe another $1 to the pot. If you gain during the week, you will owe $1 for each pound gained (due at the end of the challenge).

I’m planning to start a blog dedicated to this challenge, so you can email me your weekly weigh in or comment on the blog. Your starting weight will not be posted, just if you gained/lost each week. The winners will be determined by overall percentage of weight loss, not merely who lost the most pounds.

I will also post articles/inspiring ideas/exercise routines/healthy recipes, etc to the blog as a way to encourage everyone & would welcome any links to things you find helpful in our journey towards health!

Just think - even if we merely do the 1-2lbs weight loss per week that is recommended, that would be anywhere from 8-16lbs by Christmas time! How exciting would it be to buy a size smaller clothes with our Christmas gift cards! :)

my sleeping beauty

Hope is an incredible sleeper. She is already mostly going through the night - at least 6-7 hours each night, and sometimes even more! I feel so incredibly blessed by that, especially since I will be starting back to work this week (part time). I'm feeling good about starting up work again. I miss the students and leaders, and I miss the work! I'm looking forward to easing in part time though, and think going back to 40+ hours a week will be tough, but I've done it before & can do it again!

Funny sidenote: I am sitting on the couch drinking coffee while typing, and I just tried to rest my coffee cup on my belly like I did when I was pregnant. Didn't work so well!

Another funny sidenote: Did anyone else notice something funny in the pic of Isaac & Hope? Look at Isaacs head - the little tiara in the background looks like it's on his head!

Quick update

* Isaac has gone to bed 3 nights without his nuk now. It actually makes me a little sad, because it's one more step of him becoming a 'big boy' instead of my little boy. :(

* Hope weighed in on Tuesday at 8lbs 10oz. Still not back up to birth weight, but she had gained 3 oz in 5 days so the doc was pleased. We have to do another weigh in next week to make sure she's continuing to gain, but she's on the right track.

* I know at least 1 person due with a baby every month through June 2011 with the exception of May. Wow - lots of babies coming. Some of them are people I have been praying for continually as they have experienced a loss or have not been able to conceive. I continue to pray for those who are waiting on the Lord in this area. As my miscarriage date rolls around (10/22), I know it will again be a reminder of many who have experienced this type of heartache and of the blessing a healthy pregnancy and baby really are.

* Marc is really enjoying student teaching at Northpointe. 2 more months folks. 2 more months.

* I start back at work on Wednesday (part time). Has it really been 4 weeks already? Wowza!!

Clara Catherine Pluister Zuidema

My dear grandmother, Clara Zuidema, passed away on Sunday, September 26. She was 95 years old and completely ready to meet her Lord and Savior.

Maybe a week or so before she died, she went into the hospital with pneumonia, which is never good, but especially when you're 95 years old. She was doing okay for a few days - still eating and getting up to walk around a bit. As the week went on, she became weaker and lost some of the spunk she was known for.

I called her on Saturday to tell her she needed to get better so that she could meet Hope. She said, "I don't know, honey, I'm in the Lords hands now". I could tell she didn't want to fight. She was tired. She was ready.

Our family went down on Sunday to see her, thinking it could be only a matter of weeks until she died, not really thinking it would be that day. On our way down, my Aunt called to tell us that she was pretty much waiting for us to get there and then they would be just making her comfortable until the end.

When we got up to her room, I went over to hug and kiss her and she almost immediately asked "Where's your baby?" I brought Hope in and we got to snap a few pictures. It was hard to understand what she was trying to tell us with the big mask on, and she was getting really frustrated. After we had some time with her, the nurses came in to take off the mask and give her some morphine - we realized it would be only a matter of hours. We were all looking forward to the mask coming off so she could finally say whatever she had been trying to tell us. At one point, she was even trying to spell something, which we still couldn't make out. Anyhow, the nurse came in and gave her morphine, which immediately knocked her out. She never woke up.

She lasted about 2 hours before taking her last breath. We sang "It is Well" as she lay with her breathing steadily slowing down. We held her hand. We talked about her life. We cried.

I am so thankful that we got to say goodbye, that she got to meet Hope and that she died very peacefully. She was a woman of faith, and while I wish I had more time with her while she was alive, I know she is in heaven with our Lord.