Fun Friday Continues

Poetry Reading

Party Time

What a crazy weekend. The King was really sick and that was a huge bummer. He was only home for a day so we just had to push through anyway. Midge loved her new trike. She's learning to pedal it, with a lot of help from her sisters, and she looks too cute wearing her new helmet. I can't believe she's really two. It's exciting that they're all getting older. I have so much to look forward to.

Watching her personality just bloom has been quite the experience. She really is such a good little girl. I can take her anywhere and she will sit patiently on my lap or play quietly. We're starting to work a bit on potty training. We've introduced the potty and occasionally she'll sit on it. I plan to make a bigger deal out of it in the next few months. I have a feeling she'll be an easy one to train as she loves to please but we'll have to see.

Her party was a milestone for me as well. It was the first time since I started my "diet/lifestyle change" that I've been exposed to mass quantities of delicious food and had to really watch my portions. I'm proud to say I made it through, but it was tough. My Mom made a wonderful meal of Lasagna, french bread, salad, and then cake and ice cream for dessert. I passed on dessert as I felt full already and didn't want to push it. The surprise came today when I weighed in and saw that I'd lost another 5lbs bringing me up to 25lbs total. I was obviously thrilled. I am now about 20-30lbs from my goal weight. I know that seems like a pretty wide range but I'll have to see how I feel after 20 more pounds. Things have been going great at the gym and I really think I've established a routine and it feels good! Life is good right now and I'm trying to just live in the moment!

Fun Friday

This was a good week. It was short, no school on Monday and Tuesday. Nobody was sick. That's definitely a plus. It even ended smoothly with the girls and I going to lunch and then doing the grocery shopping. Good times I tell ya. We're having Midge's party, a small family gathering, on Sunday and I am very excited for her to see her gift from the King and I. I promise it will be photo worthy. We ordered the cake today and it was so fun to see her pick it out herself. As much as I love babies, older kids are so much fun. I'll leave you with a few fun random pic's from the week.

Happy Birthday Midge!

I promise there will be birthday pic's this weekend!

Sleep Tight!

Two years ago tonight I went to bed frustrated, sore, and completely unaware that my pregnancy was about to come to a very quick end. Tonight I tucked Midge into bed knowing that tomorrow she will wake up 2 years old. Where does the time go?

Speaking of pregnancy....

I took some belly shots for Fiona tonight. She's due the beginning of March. If you receive a package around then with holes in the top be very gentle!

Steady on the Course

Today, after an almost 2 week hiatus, I was finally able to go back to the gym. I'm proud of myself because my gym partner is out of town but I went alone anyway. The girls were even well enough to hang out in the kid's room while I did 40 minutes of cardio. My weight hasn't budged since last week but I guess I'm not too surprised. I have been eating very good, but hadn't had a chance to work out at all. Plus with such a big drop last week I didn't have huge expectations for today.

This weekend I went out to eat a couple of times with family and surprised even myself by eating off of the "guiltless" menu each time. Eating more healthy is definitely becoming a habit. My cravings have become less intense and I feel satisfied most of the time. It's a tough road but each sucess makes it worthwhile. The nice thing is I have no real deadline. There's no major event I'm trying to get in shape for. That takes the pressure off and helps me in the patience department. Now if I could just get my kids to eat a little healthier......

Scrub a Dub Dub

Had Enough

I think Boo is finally doing better. She had a few coughing spells last night, but much easier to control than the night before. Hopefully tonight will go even better for her. I still didn't get much sleep. It seems it was Tea's turn to feel miserable. She woke up around 2am complaining of ear pain. I put some drops in her ears but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. By 11am today we were back at the Ped's. Poor thing has a double ear infection. It's a bacterial infection so she was given an antibiotic and stronger drops. By tomorrow she should be feeling much better. Who knows, maybe, just maybe they will all be well at once.

Happy Valentine's Day

What a day it's already been. Here is the lovely fruit platter that my Mom made for Chiggie's class party. The kids loved it and believe it or not there was not a piece of fruit left when the party was over.
Chiggie looked adorable and I'm pretty sure she was more excited this morning than she was on Christmas. She loves Valentine's Day because she loves to dress up and eat candy. Perfect combination.
The girls love getting to be a part of things and behaved themselves wonderfully the whole time.
I'm glad they get to come along and experience the fun.
Midge is always a little nervous and watches me at all times. She loved her skirt and showed anyone who would pay attention.
Boo unfortunately is not feeling any better. As soon as we got done with the party I took her to the Ped's office to be seen as I was becoming more and more concerned. Last night was awful. I finally just ended up getting out of bed at 3am and running a steamy shower. Her and I just sat in the bathroom. It helped open her airway but I was still pretty freaked out. As I suspected she has croup not Influenza. The other girls most likely had croup as well. Being that she is only 6 months old, hers is more severe. She was given a shot of steroids and I hope that will do the trick. I feel sorry for her and I don't think I can take another scare like last night. I hope everyone has a loving Valentine's Day.

Cutie Pie

Tarnished

At the young age of 3, Tea's precious record is tarnished. She has a CAVITY! I was shocked. It's not visible to the naked eye, well the untrained naked eye, but it's there. It's just a pin hole that can be easily sealed off. Other than that she got x-rays taken, a full cleaning, and fluoride treatment with no problems. It's just a baby tooth, sniff sniff, I'm sure I'll get over it.

Believe it or Not

Stepping away from the illness that is consuming my family at this point, and on to a bit lighter of a note, I weighed today. And, I lost 12 more pounds. That's right 12 more pounds. I was ecstatic to say the least. Who knows if my own illness played a role in all of this but I can say that I didn't miss a meal. I have lost a total of 20lbs since the beginning of January. Now that's reason to celebrate! Don't worry I won't celebrate with food. Even though I do have all of those boxes of cookies in my house. Talk about discipline.

Late Breaking News

The baby is officially sick. No fever just a lot of coughing and looking miserable. So much for breast milk protecting her. This is ridiculously insane. Midge didn't sleep again last night. I really need to contact The Guiness Book of World Records because I'm pretty darn sure she requires less sleep than any other 2 year old. She can stay awake all night and still resist a nap the next day. She didn't get that from me that's for sure! Anywho, I better get going as in a few short hours I will be backing the SUV up to load over 1000 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies into the rear. I know, how oh how did I get so lucky?

Peter Pan

This is an absolute obsession in our home right now. The older girls are truly infatuated with everything that is "Peter Pan." In fact as we speak Chiggie is having difficulty sleeping as she is just positive that he is coming for her tonight. It is her hope that she will be whisked off to Neverland where she will meet the Lost Boys and never have to grow up. Her and Tea spent the day drawing and coloring pictures of their impending adventure. I hope she's not too disappointed tomorrow!

Uh Oh

Midge most likely has Influenza. High fever, terrible cough, body aches, swollen glands, you name it she has it. She was seen this morning at our pediatrician's office (by a different doc) and she agreed Midge had all the signs. We are pushing fluids and 'round the clock administering fever reducing meds. I believe Tea has it as well, same symptoms just less severe. If your wondering, yes that had the flu shot. But when we went back a month later to get their booster the county was out. Same with Boo. I tried to get her the shot once she turned 6 months old, but no such luck. Chiggie had her shot and is doing perfectly fine.

No one really slept last night at all. Midge coughed and coughed and coughed. I did too, but that's the extent of mine, just a cough no other symptoms. The King is home right now and I really hope he doesn't catch it and go back to work sick. Yuck!

Friday

Friday at last. I needed today to be Friday. This has been another busy, but successful week and I'm so glad to be onto the weekend already. Last night was Chiggie's "Thinking Day Festival" for Daisies. I unecessarily stressed over the whole thing and it ended up going great. All the girls had a wonderful time. They visited over 15 different booths that all respresented different countries. They bought food, drinks, and crafts from the booths. Our troop had Scotland and it was a blast. We sold Sporrans, tablet, and Ginger Ale. We also had a fishing game where the girls could try to catch the LochNess Monster. It was fun.

The King will be home this weekend and while I'm excited for that it's never long enough. This is a very strange work situation and I don't like it at all. I'm willing to continue because our choices are pretty limited, but I miss our normal. I'm going to do my best to just enjoy the weekend and not worry about next week. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Grumbling

I was up half the night attempting to hack up a lung. It doesn't help that the other half of the night was spent comforting Tea who joined in on my hacking chorus. It would be nice if we had the time to just lay around and recover, but no such luck. Instead we will spend the afternoon running errands to prepare for the Girl Scout Thinking Day Festival that we will all 5 be attending this evening. Tomorrow I have to do all the grocery shopping for the week and then this weekend will most certainly be spent cleaning. I wasn't exactly productive in that department this week. *Sigh*

Sweet Tea

In 2 3 4, Out 2 3 4

Sorry just had to remember and use my Lamaze breathing today at the tax place. No, it wasn't because I was nervous. We didn't owe or anything. It was the sheer amount of time we had to wait in their teeny tiny office. I called this afternoon just after I got the mail. We had received the last W-2 we needed and I was anxious to get the whole thing over with. Luckily they had a 1:00 appt available.

I ran around like a crazy person trying to get everyone in coats, hats, and boots. It was a snow day today so things were a little off. We got there just in time and took a seat to wait. And wait, and wait, and wait. After an hour of waiting I started to get perturbed. The girls were being good, but it was taking more energy then I had available to keep it that way. The room got more and more crowded as person after person showed up leaving standing room only. After an hour and a half of waiting I was very noticibly annoyed. The receptionist brought out coloring books and crayons for the girls. While this helped them, it made me even more crazy. Now I had to make sure they only colored in the books, didn't eat the crayons, etc.

Finally after two hours, yes two full hours passed our scheduled time, we were called back. I was literally shaking by this point and my muscles in my neck were sore both from tension and holding the baby for so long. The lady was apologetic and quick. Thirty more minutes and we were on our way home. I stopped at the gas station on the way home and bought myself a soda. It was diet and I figured that was better than swinging by the liquor store!

Weighing In

A week ago today I officially started going to the gym. I went 4 days last week and did 40 minutes of cardio each day. I plan to do the same thing again this week. Last Monday I weighed just to get an official "just started the gym" weight. I weighed again today and I lost 4lbs. I must admit that I was slightly disappointed. I don't know what I was hoping for but it just didn't seem like enough, considering the sacrifices I feel I've made. I've lost a total of 8lbs since beginning my diet. I know I have to just hang in there and every pound is another pound gone. It's just hard.

I really have to stay focused and just take it day by day. Summer is right around the corner and I know I'll regret it if I don't buckle down now while I still have a chance to see major improvements by then. The actual dieting isn't going so bad, I'm just not entirely used to limiting myself. I can do this.....

Here We go Again

• The house is dirty
• I'm tired
• The girls are tired and cranky
• Our to do list is lengthy

It's definitely Monday

Too Busy

We can't seem to find a happy medium around here. It's either feast or famine all of the time. Things are too busy right now. We have way too much going on, and not near enough time to enjoy it all. It really shows when I look around the house. I'm behind on everything. At night when I finally get a chance to get caught up I just don't have the energy. Nap times have been rearranged and even skipped alogether a few times this week. It throws everything out of whack and I find myself very frustrated.

There's really not a lot I can do about it right now. We have another busy week up ahead and none of it can be cancelled. This is a learning experience. In the future I am not going to overload myself so much. If I don't have the time, energy, or desire to participate in an activity I'm just going to say NO. The girls can't be involved in everything. We are going to have to prioritize. For the sake of my sanity!