Saturday, February 28, 2009

Trying to make changes

I am a junk food junky. I admit it, I know it, I have accepted it.

Lately I have been trying very hard to change that. It is not as easy to break those habits.

I love my oreos, my fritos, my coke.

We started with small things. Not keeping cookies in the house. Not buying chips. Then buying better alternatives.

I just ate some frosted mini-wheats for a snack instead of what would have been oreos less than 2 weeks ago.

I have gotten rid of the coke and replaced it with water or heavily watered down juice. I do still have an occasional vitamin water but no more coke. If I need a caffeine pick me up I will have some regular tea. Not nearly as much caffeien and not chuck full of empty calories as my beloved coke.

Other things we have done? I have stopped buying everything pre-made and started doing a meal plan for the week. This was a huge deal for me as quick and easy is just so much nicer with children running about and climbing stairs etc. I have learned the crockpot love and am still learning how to do actual meal plans but in addition to being healthier and not as loaded with preservatives, it also has save a *ton* on our grocery bills.

Do I still have an occasional treat? Of course! Do I feel the *need* to have sweets or salt every night? I suppose I still crave it a bit but not like I used to and I am pretty sure with a little more time it will get easier. I even went to the store earlier to get a couple small things and kept myself from buying potato chips and sprite.

Yay!!!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Ahh and it begins

So I will admit this, I am scared of ghosts. I know many do not believe in ghosts but I do. I have said from the very beginning to the hubby that when the time comes, he is to take care of all the ghosts and monsters in the closet and under the bed as I would likely end up more scared than the kids...

Well today I was making dinner and I heard Aaron talking in the living room and asked him what he said he said "Say hi to Uncle Joe". I said uhhh we don't have an Uncle Joe...where is he? And he says back to me... "Uncle Joe is dead." uhhhhh WHAT? The child is 2.5 I have not told him what dead is etc...but he was talking about Uncle Joe in our living room and Uncle Joe is dead. I asked him more than once where Uncle Joe was.

He hasn't said anything yet but now I am a bit freaked out by the whole thing...blah. Mean child scaring his Mama.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Growing up

Both my kiddos are anyway.

It makes me both sad and excited all at once, coupled with a huge helping of PROUD.

Ivy is all over everything now. She does a real crawl and can pull up on anything. She also climbs the stairs so the better part of my day is spent dragging her from them...in theory I could gate them off but then Aaron can't get upstairs like he enjoys doing sometimes. Once in awhile he likes having chill time to himself up in his room. She says "cat cat", "Dada", and "brother" now and is *finally* starting to drink out of a sippy cup a bit!

Aaron is using real sentences now. The little boy that I *swore* would never talk like 6 months ago never, ever, ever stops talking now! He knows his letters, shapes, numbers, colors, animals, etc. He has also figured out how to memorize his favorite books so he "reads" them to me.

He is totally potty trained now too. That was made obvious today when he went on the potty (not just pee!) all on his own without freaking out about it or anything. He has been dry for over a full month now, how crazy is that? It feels like maybe 2 or 3 days ago that we started using the potty...now its an everyday, no big deal sorta thing! He can even hold it for trips. We were about 5 or 6 miles from home the other day and he says "Go pee". And I think, uh oh...I tell him we will be home soon and to try and wait just a little bit...we get home, I let him out of the carseat and tell him to go inside, take his shoes off and he can go pee while I get baby girl out of the car....not a problem at all! He went right inside and was taking his shoes off when I got Ivy inside and he went right to his potty! I am rather impressed with his bladder control actually...

I can't believe in just a few short months she will be a full year old and he will be THREE. Where on *Earth* did THREE YEARS go?

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Keeping in Shape

So I have a new respect for the people on shows like Biggest Loser. I am a healthy weight and today did the 30 Day Shred work out (just level 1!) by Jillian Michaels (Biggest Loser trainer) and I thought I might die. She says at the start of the video that she has 400 pound people that can do jumping jacks and I was there, doing them, but sweating my buns off!

I did the whole 20 minute work out and I am anticipating a rather sore morning tomorrow!

I really have a huge respect now for people on those shows (and in real life of course!) that work so hard to get into shape.

That is my thought for the day.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Unsure

I am unsure what to title this as I expect it to be rather disjointed, so bare with me.

I have been thinking a lot about weaning Ivy at night. The problem is it sounds like a lot of work because she prefers to settle while nursing rather than just being loved/ cuddled. The problem with nursing at night? 1. Takes away my sleep (trivial really, my job as a mom is to give up some stuff for my kids) 2. Takes away *her* sleep 3. She BITES at night. Yes, bites, OUCH!

She bites because she isn't *really* hungry she just wants comfort but she is sleepy so instead of just comforting or eating she bites down, rather hard. Of course traditional advice is to say "No" firmly and put them down...well at 3am that would start *quite* the crying/ screaming issues that aren't the best idea with the toddler sleeping too.

So what do I do? Night wean and hope it goes well or not night wean and get bitten all the time???

On other news Aaron is allergic to his suedecloth on the BG diapers and he was out of nighttime sposies so I was left trying to figure out what on EARTH I was going to use for a diaper tonight. Luckily I was able to gather a few things and hopefully it works...we will see in the morning!

We are still in the house search as well. I am leaning one way with the house choice but the hard part now is waiting for Pete to talk to the bank. Getting the loan won't be a huge issue it is just a matter of waiting until he gets his payday so he can pay off the credit cards. I am not however, the most patient person in the world so waiting is not an easy thing for me. I want to pick out paint colors for rooms and pick themes for both the kids rooms and all that fun stuff...it would be so much more fun than sitting here waiting and waiting.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

House hunting: My thoughts

I have decided that a process that should be exciting and wonderful is instead annoying and stressful. When we house hunted to find this place it wasn't nearly as bad though this house, somehow, I picked this one to look at really early on and Pete agreed on it as well...it was semi-miraculous.

This time we are having a slightly more difficult time as our list of needs has changed and it can be hard to find everything. Examples? 3+ bedrooms 2+ baths (in the teen years I am not sharing a bathroom with my daughter that will spend more time on her make up and hair than it takes me to make a 5 course meal)...seems easy right? Add to that a 2+ car garage and ideally a basement...okay, still with me? Now add on keeping it in our price range and ideally the same area we are in now. Yea, not so simple anymore is it?

So I drive around looking for houses, they are *everywhere* apparently everyone is selling and no one is buying...shocker! I use my mind and jot down the places and the real estate agency its listed with to look it up later...3/4 of the places I found that I wanted to look into more I can't locate online, THAT is annoying.

So then I find houses that I wanna look at. Yay! I talk to Pete and he wants to look at them too. Excellent. So I bother the real estate agent *yet again* and let her know we want to see these places and we are left to figure out when to see them. Shouldn't be a problem right? Wrong. Between Pete's work, the kids schedules, the poor real estate agent's busy life (after reading my incessant emails) AND the fact its better to see houses in daylight which there is SO little of in Vermont during the month of February, makes it rather hard to schedule things.

Then of course the FUN part happens we were stress and hmmm and haw at what to offer for a place we like and if we should really offer a price and how high/low to go and what if the seller doesn't like the price and blah blah blah...then inspections and surveys and all that crap. Then...oh man, then comes the WORST part of all! Packing up all this crap and boxing it up to move it to a new place and figure out where to put it all when we get there.

In the end will it be worth it? Most likely. I will get a real house with enough car space and hopefully a nice fenced in (or fenceable) yard where I can toss the children and the dog I will someday have...a real house I can paint and do whatever I want to with and really settle in and enjoy it and build memories in. I mean really, wouldn't it be cool if Ivy's first steps are at our new house that we spend the next 40+ years of our lives? It will be a little sad to leave this house because of the memories of Aaron growing up but those memories will come with us of course...

Now I am just rambling, I need to watch the end of Lost that I started.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Plague hits again!

Yep, that's right! The plague (cold) has hit our house again. I have decided that I can't handle us being sick anymore so I went to the store today after Pete got home to pick up a few things.

I got tea, it is supposed to have high antioxidants and it is supposed to help make my T cells wanna fight. I figure it will be a good way to start the AM instead of my coffee...I get my caffeine and say hey T-cells, up and at'em.

I got Ester-C. Nothing like massive doses of vitamin C to make your body learn to fight back. I wanted zinc too but I forgot to check its safety on Kellymom before I went. Given that I am nursing I can't just toss whatever I want to into my body, I need to read about it first and make sure it won't hurt the baby.

I also got lysol and clorox hard surface anywhere spray...it says it's safe to use around pets and kids. I plan on bathing my house in those tomorrow...hopefully it kills all the evil germs that seem to be lingering in my house.

I happened across the candy aisle...as I have a tendency to do and ended up with sour gummy worms too...you know, they are medicinal of course. They are also the only thing I can actually taste.

Tonight was also an interesting change for me. I was looking through the TV listings and noticed that my show I wanted to watch was pushed back an hour for the Presidential Address. I thought to myself "Oh great, stupid Bush." Then, I realized...waiiiit a minute, it's not him anymore! So I am sitting here half listening seeing what he has to say. He looks a little angry if you ask me...maybe he needs to be angry to fix the economy...lord knows the man before him wasn't.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Thinking about summer time...

Ahhh...sounds nice right?

I got a Lands End catalog in the mail the other day and was looking through it and realizing how nice it would be to have "grown up" clothes. Now that I am back to the correct size that I supposed to be (after gaining 40 @#$*# pounds during pregnancy) I think I might get a new batch of clothes for summer time.

Until now I have always shopped at Old Navy. Now, they are good "enough" I suppose but lately I have really noticed a lack of quality with them not limited to super thin shirts and with nursing that is almost obscene and holes in TWO pairs of my less-than-5-month-old jeans. I have also noticed that when I go look around in the store I find myself thinking (or saying) *Really?* People *wear* that? I dunno maybe I am just getting too old but some of that stuff is just horrible.

I found some cute t-shirts and pants through Lands End and I know they make good quality stuff because I have seen it and touched it etc.

The hardest part of my summer shopping? The bathing suit. I have always hated bathing suits but now I long for the days when I had no qualms about wearing a teenie bikini...bright orange at that. Now keep in mind, I know I am in decent "shape" in a purely shape-wise with clothes on...however I know what is *under* those clothes and its not pretty.

Between stretch marks and extra skin/pudge from pregnancy (my body seems to think it wasn't meant to gain 40 pounds in 9 months...twice over) its a bit scary to see and not something I care to flaunt at the beach.

So now I find myself looking for a tankini top and a swim skirt bottom, if you saw my thighs, which you won't (ever), you would understand why. Man does that make me feel "mom-ish". Sure you say, just take a cover up etc etc...no, not gonna happen. If I do that I simply won't swim because you won't catch me dead without that cover up on. Part of the point of going to the hot beach is to go swimming...thats more than 3/4 of the reason to go there.

Blah. I greatly dislike clothes. The only problem with the wardrobe change is that I need to go to the Sears locally and try them on and make sure I get the right size...after shopping at *only* ON for the last...oh...forever I guess, I have no idea what my actual size is in the real world.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Since my FB is acting up...

Since my Facebook account is totally screwy I figured I would do this here!

1. WAS YOUR PREGNANCY PLANNED?
Not so much

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME?
Nope

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?
Scared to death

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU?
Not at all

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU?
21 when he was born

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?
I was feeling pretty odd and took a test, I was rather sure I was imagining that second line...on like 10 tests

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?
My aunt actually, I was a bit in shock

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX?
Yes I *had* to know and prepare myself

9. DUE DATE?
June 20, 2006

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?
Yes but not as bad as some peoples. It only hit after about 2pm other than a little sick in the AM.

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?
Poptarts....it was pretty much all I could eat for the first trimester

12.WHAT IRRITATED YOU?
That I had no idea how much work pregnancy could be!

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX?
Boy

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?
Nope! I was *Thrilled* to have a boy

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY
40

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?
Yes

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW
It was supposed to be a surprise but hubby (then boyfriend) wouldn't answer the phone when my mom (or anyone) was calling so she had to tell me about it

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING PREGNANCY?
Nope, really boring run of the mill pregnancy

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?
At the hospita

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?
12 hours 3 minutes

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL?
Hubby

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Just hubby and the nurses

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?
Natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?
I had an epidural with him, never again, never again

25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?
8 pounds 4 ounces

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN?
June 28, 2006 @ 11:03pm

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?
Aaron William

Monday, February 2, 2009

Going Crazy

And not in the good way I am afraid.

We have been stuck inside for too long at a time I am afraid. Ivy sleeps from 10-11/11:30 everyday...Then lunch is at 12. After we finally manage to get lunch eaten it is at least 12:30 and afternoon nap for both kids is from 1-3ish (sometimes 2-4ish for the boy). So then its 3:30/4 by the time everyone is up and awake enough to not be grouchy...and then dinner is at 5:30 so I have to start it around 4:30ish.

Then dinner is done and its family time and then bed...

That leaves little to no window to leave the house and get out and such. I try to get Aaron outside as much as I can during her naps but its hard because I can't really leave sight of the house because of the sleeping baby and there is so much snow so that means we hang out in the driveway...not exactly thrilling.

Then of course we could have people over however now there are parts of a car in the living room so anyone that isn't just a crawler...not the best of idea. I have enough trouble keeping my own 2.5 year old away from it all. Hopefully at least the car parts leave the house soon.

I just keep hoping for spring so at the very least we can go to Airport Park even for the 30 or 45 min window we MIGHT get during the day...

A little sad

So to start with I want to warn people this is a little upsetting so if you are sensitive to baby issues and death I wouldn't read much further...I will put a line of stars across the bottom of the bad stuff so you can skip to that line if you prefer.

I got news last week that someone in the town I grew up in was at the hospital because she couldn't breathe however she was 6 months pregnant. I didn't really know her anymore than knowing who she was in town (and in a town with only 1,200 people its hard not to at least know who most people are). However I got word that the doctors had decided to deliver her baby at only 6 months of gestation to save the moms life. Unfortunately the baby didn't live very long as a result of complications of a severely premature delivery.

This saddens me more than I can really explain. No, I didn't really know the mom very well but the loss of a baby so close to home is still very upsetting to me. It makes me feel very lucky to have two wonderful little kids that while a bit crazy are happy and healthy little ones.

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On other news we are still using the potty here! He does well enough now that I don't need to remind him to use the potty anymore, he tells me when its time and he can get his own underpants/ pants off and back up when he is done. This is very helpful as now if he has to pee while I am nursing Ivy I don't need to either stop feeding her or risk him peeing all over the place.

I am also about thisclose to hiding a certain book that he *loves*. I am not joking when I say that *I* have read this book to him upwards of 20 times a day and when I am not reading it to him, he is reading it because he now has it memorized completely. Its a perfectly good book and he enjoys it but there are only so many times I can hear/ say "Somethings dripping. What is it? The FAUCET is dripping."