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September 30, 2009

Full update tommorrow

A quick weight update, because I haven't worked out yet, and I must GET. OFF. MY. ASS.

This morning's weigh in was 139.8, which is still up from my starting weight, but down from last week. It's not my lowest weight of the week, either, but I think eating at Chili's two nights in a row really got me.

Posted by me at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)

Free ice cream!

Way back in May, I entered a contest for a coupon for free ice cream from Moosh in Indyand BlogHer. That post was actually a review for Dreyer's/Edy's Slow Churned Neighborhood Salute, a contest Dreyer's runs annually to give away 1500 ice cream parties to deserving neighborhoods. I went ahead and entered that contest too, even though it required an actual essay.

I was thrilled when I won a coupon for a free 1.5 quart (whatever happened to half gallons?) from Casey.

I was absolutely dumbfounded a week later when I learned that I had won a party for up to 100 of my neighbors from Dreyer's!

When I entered, I had to pick some possible party dates. Not long after, we planned our trip to Gulf Shores. It never occurred to me that we would win a party, or that they would pick the week we were going to be out of town to deliver 10 containers of ice cream! And while the date of the party was negotiable, the delivery was not. Luckily, my sweet, kind neighbor who was taking care of our cats that week watched for the FedEx man for THREE DAYS, waiting to whisk the ice cream into it's chilly new home in my freezer.

With our vacation, school starting, family obligations and life in general, it took us until Sunday to actually hold the party. In spite of the 20 invitations we hung on people's doors, only 6 families showed up. It's a shame more people didn't come and enjoy the bounty, but we had a great time with the families that did come. It was nice to finally get to sit down and talk to some of the other moms without having to rush off to the next activity, or hurry home to get chores done. And because it was such a small group, I didn't have to work too hard to play hostess.

In some ways, the party was a complete failure. We only met one new neighbor. We didn't have a screeching horde of children. I had less than half the number of children I told the fire department I would provide.

It sure felt like a success, though!

Now what am I going to do with all this leftover ice cream?

Posted by me at 9:10 PM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2009

Fitness FAIL

I woke up this morning a pound and a half down from yesterday. WOO HOO! For a brief moment, I weighed less than when I started this whole diet and exercise thing.

Then we went to Sam's to pick up some stuff, and had pizza for lunch. Owen ate fully half of mine, though, so I didn't feel too bad about it.

After that, we had a little party. An ice cream party (more on that later.) But I was running around the whole time, and I only had about a scoop of ice cream. Still doing ok, if a bit sunburnt.

But after that, I was a bit fried, so we ordered take out from Chili's. I was going to order a nice healthy salad, or a Guiltless Grill sandwich, but I ended up getting the other chicken sandwich, the one with the cheese and bacon and FRIES. And then I had a few bites of the deep fried fried stuff that Rex got.

Also? Between the heat and the concrete and forgetting to put shoes on, my feet are so fried it hurts to walk, much less run in place for 20 minutes. So much for working out today.

On the other hand, we had a great day, spent time with friends, met some new neighbors and had fun.

Social WIN.

Posted by me at 8:36 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2009

And a green belt, too!

Posted by me at 9:59 PM | Comments (1)

Unleashed

All my kids start out shy. Polite, sweet, but quiet when we're out in the world. Katie sort of took that description to extremes.

After a year of attending TKD three times a week, every week, she would still only greet the instructor verbally about half the time.

At preschool, she was hesitant to tell the teachers (whom she professed to love, at home) that she needed to go to the bathroom. She never wanted to interrupt. I'd be willing to bet she never said a word that wasn't an answer to a direct question.

In gymnastics, her coach told me excitedly that she had finally starting talking, that when the other girls would cut in front of her in line, she might actually mention to the coach that Katie thought it was her turn. She had only been attending regularly for 9 months or so.

And then, about a month ago, she decided to become outgoing.

I was shocked at her behavior in gymnastics. She was (slightly obnoxiously) calling "Look at me! Look at me Miss Amanda!" Loud enough that you could hear her all over the gym. Repeatedly. Out of turn, even.

I've never heard her do such a thing in public, except to family.

When I asked her about it on the way home, she matter of factly said "I'm not going to be shy anymore."

Since that day, she's been more outgoing at school. She's still described as "sweet," "cuddle bug," "well behaved" and "good listener", but she's also gone from "soft spoken" to "talks more and more." She's proudly informed me that she's asked to go to the bathroom when she needs to go.

Of course, the Katie I see hasn't changed much. The one that hasn't stopped talking to me since the first day we dropped Jamie off at preschool. The one that can be funny, or bratty, that yells at her sister when things don't go her way. I'm proud of the way she's coming into herself, growing up, growing out.

And now I get to share her, the good and the bad, with the rest of the world. Go out and get 'em, girl!

Posted by me at 9:56 PM | Comments (1)

September 24, 2009

It is done.

I just nursed Owen for the last time.

I should have just put him down without nursing him, but when I fed him yesterday I didn't know that that might be the last time, and I didn't take the time to really appreciate it.

I think it may have been worse, knowing that this time was the last. The last time he'll snuggle in the crook of my arm, contentedly sucking away. Letting me rub his back and his belly and kiss his head without wiggling or protesting. The last time we'll share the one thing that no one else has been able to give him, to do with him.

I'm not ready for this.

Posted by me at 9:50 AM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2009

Fight the fat!

Well, I haven't technically lost any weight since I started this, but at least I weigh less this week than last. By a smidge. Nothing feels looser yet, but then it's been a while since I've worn my shorts, what with the cooler weather we've had this week.

On a more positive note, while I still don't like running, after 10 minutes of Wii running (in place), I don't feel like I'm going to die at the end anymore. In fact, the last time I ran, I was barely winded! I'm incredibly impressed by that, since I've never been much of a runner or fan of aerobic activity.

As for the goals:

1. I've turned to doing mostly aerobic exercises on my Wii nights. I try to add a little something heart raising to my ab workouts, but I'm not being strict about it.
2. I've loosened up a bit on the eating by adding a bit of ice cream every night. The down side is I've lost a bit of my control during the day, but I think the extra food (at least part of it) may actually be helping. At least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.
3. Owen is down to one feeding a day, and with the way he's been treating me and constantly asking for boobie, I'm actually looking forward to cutting him off (And also, it makes me want to cry a little bit.) My current hope is that he'll stop abusing me when there's no chance of a boob, period. I'm not betting any money on that theory, though.
4. Lose 5 pounds in 5 4 weeks. Yikes!

And here are my stats so far:

• 9/3 139.4
• 9/9 140.6
• 9/16 140.8
• 9/23 140.4

Posted by me at 9:14 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2009

Eighteen months

Today, Owen is 18 months old.

My baby disappears more and more every day. He becomes less my sweet and innocent little baby nugget and more an opinionated, stubborn bundle of active personality every day.

The last few weeks in particular have seen a lot of change. His sleeping habits have gone in the toilet, with him waking up early, and then needing a nap soon after, which leaves him overtired at bedtime, which isn't helping him sleep later. He's being weaned, bit by bit, and it's making him angry, crabby and cranky. He's started throwing tantrums, which are likely fueled by tiredness, that last longer are harder to short circuit than before. Add to that last week's chipped tooth, this afternoon's bonk on a sharp edged shelf and tonight's teeth through the lip (AGAIN), and it feels like I'm caring for a screaming, abusive, accident prone little sex maniac.

Which isn't to say that Owen doesn't have his redeeming qualities. He's still cute as hell, and he can be quite the charmer when he wants to be. He's extremely well behaved, as long as he wants to do what you want him to do. He's thoughtful enough to throw food on the floor for the cat, and as a little snack for himself for later. He's sleeping through the night, at least right up until about an hour before he needs to be up. And he often blows me kisses without prompt as he's carried up to bed.

Owen is picking up new words every day. He loves to mimic the sounds we make, the ows, mmmms, yums and oofs. His verbal skills seem to be progressing more slowly than the girls', but then Jamie was a late talker who exploded verbally once she started talking. Owen started saying actual words a bit later than average, I guess, and while he is regularly picking up words, he hasn't started putting two words together except on rare occasions. He's polite enough to repeat the word "please," but amost never offers it on his own.

Food-wise, he's still crazy picky. What he loves one day he may refuse outright the next. With the exception of yogurt, I can't think of a single thing that he's guaranteed to eat. Applesauce, oyster crackers, eggs, Cheerios (preferably on the floor) and more recently grapes are high on his list.

He's picky, mercurial, loud, violent, exhausted, and when he holds my cheeks in his hands and plants a kiss on my lips he is my sweet, sweet baby boy.

Posted by me at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)

September 17, 2009

Cracked

You know how you do the same thing, day after day, and you get so bored you wish something would happen that would shake things up?

And then something happens, and all you want is your boring routine back?

The morning started off as usual: Owen was up too early, Jamie went off to school, I took a shower while Owen and Katie tortured the cat in the bathroom, then I dropped Katie off at school and Owen and I went straight to Target for some groceries. Even his fussiness at being forced to shop when he was tired was becoming commonplace.

When he tripped, it was nothing new. It looked like he might have hit his mouth when he fell so he was crying, but that happens at least once a week, too.

Now the large chunk of his left front tooth that was missing? THAT was new.

It didn't bleed, the crying stopped more quickly than I expected (especially since I was still looking for a wound when he stopped) and within a minute he was back to his usual self, if still a bit grumpy that I wouldn't let him empty the shelves of chocolate bits.

I wasn't quite sure what to do next. I went ahead and left a message with his ped, since I wasn't sure if at that age I had to deal with a doctor or a dentist, although my biggest question was really about the little sharp point the break had created. Could I file that down with an emery board, or would that do some kind of damage? (No wonder my ped calls me an underreactor.) Long story short, I was referred to a children's dentist in our town, although I didn't actually get a name or number, just a location in our town's shopping center.

When Owen woke up early from his nap (Yay! Still not enough sleep!) I figured we might as well drop by and see if we needed an appointment on our way to pick up Katie. Instead, we ended up being seen, getting two x-rays, got the pointy bit filed down and a flouride treatment. All in under 30 minutes. Those people are my new best friends. They didn't even laugh at me for not knowing who we had dental insurance through.

Whether or not Owen will keep the tooth is still up in the air. We have to watch to see if the tooth dies or becomes infected, and apply flouride treatments for the next couple months. If nothing changes, he'll just have a snaggle tooth for the next 5 years or so and a very unique smile.

Posted by me at 8:20 PM | Comments (0)

September 16, 2009

Weighty matters

I know it's only been a couple of weeks, but this whole weight/exercise thing is really starting to bring me down. After another week of doing some form of exercise every day, and carefully watching what I eat (and resisting, oh, the resisting!) I've managed to gain another .2 pounds. The hell?!?

I know everyone (including me!) says that muscle weighs more than fat, yada yada yada, and your clothes are fitting better, right?

NO!

If anything, my shorts are more snug, and I appear no smaller, tighter or toner in the mirror than I did two weeks ago. The only benefit I've seen so far is that I don't want to cry so much after I do the plank or those sit-up things where you keep your legs off the ground the whole time. I know that should be some sort of victory, but dammit, I WANT RESULTS.

Here's where I stand on the goals:

1. I think I'm going to have to add to the exercise. Maybe add more to the ab toning workout I do every other day.
2. I can't eat much less. As it is, I'm wondering if I'm not eating enough, and between that and the nursing, my body is trying to hold on to some fat. Stupid body LISTEN TO WHAT THE MOUTH IS SAYING. I could eat better, more fruits and veggies. For some reason, I'm totally off healthy food right now, and while I'm fairly sure it's a phase, I need to grow out of it.
3. I've cut the boy down to two feedings a day. He's not happy about the lack of boobie, but at least he isn't asking for it in the morning. I'll try to drop another one in the next week or so, although it's going to be tough since we're having some sleeping issues right now.
4. Lose 5 pounds in 5 weeks. It's possible, but that sure is cutting it close.

And here are my stats so far:

• 9/3 139.4
• 9/9 140.6
• 9/16 140.8

Posted by me at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)

I didn't do it

Yesterday, this sign said "Obama - care funds abortions." I keep waiting to see what will pop up next on the road home from Katie's preschool.

Posted by me at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2009

The middle one, she is sneaky

Katie is jumping on the couch.

"Hey! Is that ok?"

"No."

"Then why were you doing it?"

"Becaaaaause....You weren't looking!"

Posted by me at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)

September 9, 2009

Motivation

Last week, Beth posted her weight on the internet, as motivation to get back in shape for the second time this summer.

I was struck by the similarities of our desires. I, too, had worked out and tried to eat less to prepare for a summer beach trip (much less successfully, but I tried, dammit!) I, too, had gone on vacation and said to hell with my diet, I'm on vacation! As of last week, I weighed 139.4 (my scale is accurate to .2 pounds). And as of Wednesday of last week, I had 7 weeks until Rex and I leave on a trip away from the kids, the first since Owen was born.

I had thought about posting a picture of my scale, and just never got around to it (also, my toes are not as pretty), but I did start up with the exercise again last Thursday. So far, in spite of a weekend away from home, I've managed to...gain a pound.

I swear, I thought I was eating well, given my circumstances. But I'm not giving up!

So here are my goals:

1. Step up the exercise. I'd rather be firmer and tighter than weigh less.
2. Eat less. And better. This is hard, because I'm weaning Owen, and experience tells me that I'm still hungry as if I'm eating for two long after the second person drops off.
3. Wean the boy. He's getting cut off 6 weeks from today, in spite of both of us fighting it. I'd prefer to do this slowly and smoothly as opposed to cold turkey, so I'd better get crackin'.
4. Lose 5-10 pounds. Realistically, I doubt I'll be able to take off more than 5 in the next 6 weeks. My ultimate goal is 10, with an option for another 5 depending mostly on my thighs.

And here are my stats so far:

• 9/3 139.4
• 9/9 140.6

Posted by me at 12:59 PM | Comments (3)

September 8, 2009

Unpolitically correct

When I was a kid, the President was a big deal. When he spoke (which seemed rare, but maybe my family just ignored him and I didn't know about it), we listened. If he was going to address students specifically, we watched. The whole school watched. The coveted tv was brought into the classroom so we could hear history being made.

The same was true for space shuttle launches and falling walls. Granted, this was back in the days before we had a space station, and it seemed like those shuttles were more like commuter flights. Because these were the things that would be added to the history books in 10 years for our children to read about.

Granted, the president is now on tv practically daily. The first lady goes on talk shows. The first family's pet got more airtime on the morning new shows than Farrah Fawcett's death.

Still, Barak Obama, The President of the United States of America, wanted to speak to our youth about responsibility and education.

And a bunch of people thought that was a bad thing.

I don't get it. I really don't. That speech was inspiring. It was uplifting. It wasn't all fairy tales and roses in the land of milk and honey. It was about hard work and respecting yourself and your dreams and not making excuses and just doing it anyway.

It was, in my opinion, what a lot of kids these days need.

It's what a lot of adults these days need.

Our school district chose not to "take time away from academic studies to participate in the live speech." Individual teachers are allowed to use all or part of the speech in future lessons, provided it meets the district's curriculum goals, and parents are given advance notice and allowed to opt out.

I call bullshit. Whether you like the current president or not, he's still the leader of our country. As such, he deserves respect. He deserves to be heard. No one is forcing you to agree with what he says. No one is saying you can't have a talk with your kids when they get home and tell them that it's ok to talk smack to their teachers and feel free to drop out. But like it or not, he is the head of our government, elected by a majority vote, and what he says will go down in history no matter if you like it or not.

People keep saying that our Constitution gives us the right not to listen, and that's true, it does. But that's just another excuse to avoid admitting that not everything that comes out of Obama's mouth is liberal crap, that he might be able to inspire our children to be better in spite of his (so-called) terrible leadership.

Stop making excuses, open your hearts and your minds, and listen.

Posted by me at 7:59 PM | Comments (2)

September 4, 2009

Cloudy with a chance of barf

It's been one hell of a week.

Actually, it didn't start out so bad. Jamie still admits to loving school, Katie had her first day of preschool without a hint of anxiety (that I could see. And I was really looking!) Tae Kwon Do, Ice Cream Social at the school...

And then I had to plunge the downstairs toilet. I'm still not sure what clogged it. It actually looked like something came up, as opposed to something big being forced down. But after a couple minutes of scrambling, trying to find the plunger, everything worked it's way down just fine. Minor inconvenience.

Not going to let a tiny little white puffy cloud spoil my sunshiney week.

It was just after midnight when I heard my name being called from upstairs. Just once or twice, enough to wake me up and get me moving, but without any real urgency. In fact, by the time I was halfway up the stairs, I wondered if I had dreamed being called at all. I peeked my head in the girls room, anyway, just to make sure. That's when Jamie told me she had puked in her bed.

Oh, boy, had she puked in her bed.

How can a meal pass entirely through your GI tract in under 24 hours, but still be swirling around in your stomach in it's entirety 6 hours after you ate it? The upside is that most of the mess was in the middle of the bed, with just some minor drippage off the one side that landed on Katie's bed. Way better than the night of down-the-ladder. (I really do like bunk beds, most of the time.

I started stripping and remaking Jamie's bed while she changed, and then laid out on the floor. I was halfway through yanking the bottom sheet into place when I realized making the bed was stupid, since Jamie should really be sleeping somewhere more, uh, toilet accessible. Right about that time, Jamie made my point by running to the bathroom. I finished anyway, since I was already up there sweating, banged the crap out of my knee on the ladder, and stripped (and made) Katie's bed.

I sent Jamie on her way to the couch and bent to gather enough laundry to keep my washer busy most of the next day. That's when Katie started crying that she wanted someone to sleep with her. Oh, for... Talked Katie into having a good dream about butterflies, and then finally went down and got Jamie settled, then, uh, yeah, and then I got her settled again. She's apparently quite ok with barfing alone in the middle of the night, as long as she has her bowl, so I think I got to sleep in until 5, when Owen woke up the first time.

Jamie was pretty rung out the next morning, going so far as to fall asleep on the couch again before I had to take Katie to preschool. Luckily, she woke up before we had to leave, but I had to make the poor kid ride in the van (with barf bag). With as much energy as she showed, I probably could have left her home for the 20 minutes or so I was gone, but then I couldn't have blogged about it for fear CPS would be a knockin' at my door. As it was, I parked the van in front of the front door, asked the director to keep an eye out on the van, and Owen and I ran Katie into class. Cannot wait for the dropoff/pickup line to start. I was glad I didn't leave her in the middle of the parking lot, since I saw not one but TWO cops dropping kids off. I was nervous enough with the director on my side.

Around lunchtime, Jamie felt good enough to have some milk, and then some water and a bit of bread. Thank goodness she made it to the bathroom before that came back up, although I wish she had made the extra two feet to the toilet. By the time I was done, that entire bathroom had been scrubbed in ways it hadn't since we moved in.

Luckily, that was the last of yesterday's barf. It wasn't the last of the drama, thought. Owen managed to dump a cup of milk all over the couch and the carpet (I'm hoping I got that up, because I'm not fond of the smell of rotting milk in my living room.) and there was a bit of a poop incident with Katie. We generated 5 loads of laundry in 12 hours yesterday. Thank god I don't have to beat it on a rock.

I'm happy to say that in hindsight, I totally should have just sent Jamie to school today. The fever is gone, no one but the cat puked today, and eating and complaining have returned to normal levels.

Posted by me at 5:52 PM | Comments (1)

September 2, 2009

Katie's last first day of preschool

Katie completely owns the room this year. She walked in, put her stuff away, sat down, and pretended we weren't there until we finally went away.

Posted by me at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

Tummy trouble

Monday night I was going to post a rant about how Katie had a stomach ache that somehow turned into an issue with the insurance company over a $200+ prescription, but in the end, the whole thing worked out for the price of a $35 copay and a return trip to Target that I needed to make anyway. Goody for me and my checkbook, but not so much fun to write.

I suppose I may as well document the visit, in any case. It's that or tell you about the way my husband avoids doing things by pretending that HE CAN'T EVEN HEAR ME.

Anyway.

Last spring, Katie had mentioned a couple times that her stomach hurt. She even told her preschool teachers once or twice (which is astounding in itself, since she wouldn't even tell them when she had to pee.) It only happened occasionally, and at the time, I chalked it up to the stress of the boy she was concerned about.

She still mentioned her stomach a few times after summer break started, though, and even brought it up to her grandpa a few times while she was in Maryland visiting him.

In the meantime, she got an ear infection, and then swimmer's ear. She would mention ear pain maybe once a day, even several days into the infections. I'm sure her ears must have been quite painful, but apparently she's incredibly stoic.

So that clinched it. I'm normally hesitant to make doctor's appointments for things like a stomach ache, because really, how can you pin that down? I don't want to waste my time to hear that it's gas pain or a plea for attention (and to be fair, I'm not sure that some of her complaints weren't for the attention factor. Especially after she came bouncing into my office one day and told me it hurt pretty bad, with a giant smile on her face.) but at this point, I'm starting to get concerned.

Luckily, our doctor knows me well enough to realize that if I'm concerned, there's probably a good reason. He took me seriously enough to follow up a "relatively benign" physical exam with an x-ray (that showed that her colon was enlarged on the left side, which would have been expected if she were "backed up," something Katie, uh, never is). We're going to try a 3-4 week course of Prevacid, and if that doesn't help, he'll refer us to a gastroenterologist.

It took a couple days to get everything straightened out with Katie's prescription, during which time she kept walking around saying things like "Do you have my medicine yet, Mama? I need my medicine." like a tiny little addict. I'm starting to wonder if I could have fixed the whole thing with a week's worth of sugar pills.

Posted by me at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)