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Guess what?
It’s Friday night…
And I’ve got a hot date…
With my Husband…
Our first one in…
well, the last date we had was around Valentine’s day…
2008.
Yeah, Emma was in the sling. She was about 8 weeks old.
Tonight Luke will be in the sling. He’s 7 weeks old today.
All thanks to Aunt Haley!
Thank you Aunt Haley!
So, it’s been 4 1/2 weeks since I gave birth. Everything should be back to normal, right? Clean house, laundry all caught up, dinner (and breakfast and lunch) from scratch and on the table every night, school all caught up, me showered and dressed by 8am everyday… RIGHT?
Ok, ok… stop laughing. No, seriously… stop, please.
Sadly, this is what I was expecting of myself. Not even at 4 weeks, but at 2 weeks. Oh yeah. I wanted everything to be up and running smoothly and perfectly at 2 weeks postpartum. Why yes, I am a bit delusional, thank you for asking.
It had been a rough couple of weeks for me. You see, stuff needed to be done. Lots of stuff. All I had to do was ask. Just ask.
I couldn’t do it. I could not ask for help.
WHY?
Good question! I’m still trying to figure that out.
The only thing I can blame it on is genes.
I come from some mighty pigheaded women!
My Mom is pretty pigheaded but nowhere near as bad as my Grandmothers were.
Woo-Baby! They took the cake!
My Mom’s mom, Grandma Tippie, was widowed when my mom and her sister were in the early teens. She had to provide for her and her daughters. She played the organ at church, baked and sold cakes and made their own clothing. Before she passed away, she was in an assisted living / nursing home. I felt so bad for the people that took care of her. She was never mean or anything. But don’t you dare tell her what to do!
My Dad’s mom, Grandma Iva, was even more stubborn that Grandma Tippie I think. She was a VERY headstrong woman. She birthed 7 children, losing one in infancy. She was strong and gentle all at once and I never saw anyone mess with her.
The way I look at it, I have a couple of strikes against me - Lineage (those crazy woman that I am related to), Red Hair (infamous for stubbornness) Irish, Scottish and Hungarian ancestry (how’s that for a crazy mix of temper and attitude?) and I was born April 30th making me - a Taurus, you know, the Bull.
I’m not sure if I was always like this, but it is so hard for me to ask for help. I will nearly kill myself before asking for help. So, you can imagine what it was like around here the past few weeks. Me being physically unable to do somethings and yet not wanting to ask for help. Which just made me angry, because things weren’t getting done (My poor husband!)
I am happy to report though - that I did ask for help, eventually. After crying and yelling and being mad at Marc. I stopped one morning last week and through my tears prayed. I prayed that God would make Marc see what he was doing wrong and how he NEEDED to help me! Then I prayed for forgiveness and prayed that God would help me do my part too.
Amazingly, it worked. I asked, Marc helped. I felt much better.
Things have cleared up around here and Ihav estarted to get our act together. By “our” I mean the entire family and house.
I am working on “THE MASTER PLAN!” A plan / schedule that includes cleaning, food, laundry and school. Its coming along nicely and amazingly enough… things are once again getting accomplished! Woo-Hoo!
If anyone is interested, I will be more than happy to share it once I finish.
My goal for this next year is to release myself from the perfectionism I struggle with sometimes and to occasionally, when I REALLY need to, ask for help.
How has it been a month already?
The transition has been wonderful. The kids love him. Marc and I love him. The dogs love to sniff him. The cat could care less.
He is a wonderful baby. Sleeps well. Eats great. Cries when Mommy isn’t holding him.
Loves to sleep on my chest. Constantly has one goopy eye that I just CAN’T leave alone. Hates being in his car seat. Loves being in his Moby Wrap.
I am smitten.
Wow - did I fall off the blogging bandwagon or what?
I am blaming it all on Facebook! Seriously, It’s just so easy to jump on and write out a quick note, that I have become lazy.
But, as much as I love facebook, I miss blogging. Blogging had been a nice way to get my thoughts down and ramble a bit… and as we all know, I can ramble!
So, what has been going on?
A part of me wants to say not much… but saying I have been taking it easy and relaxing is so far from my reality! I guess it would be more appropriate to say a whole bunch of everything.
As I had mentioned in my last post, gymnastics meet season started. Kaitie and Mandy have been doing wonderful and making Marc and I so proud! They have improved so much over last year and have placed high at every meet so far this year! I am still truly amazed at the awesome things they can do. Last month we had 3 meet weekends in a row - which took its toll. Most of the meets so far we havent been getting home till 11pm, way too late for this Momma! But, as quickly as it started, it is going to be winding down soon. We have districts next weekend and then (hopefully) South State and States will follow!
Homeschooling has been going well too. Although I have hit the October slump. We were running hard for about 6 weeks and then anemia induced fatigue hit me hard! Although the anemia is now in check, its been difficult to get back in into our routine. We’ve been doing what needs to be done, but it feels more like the minimum - you know? We are missing out on some of the fun stuff.
The pregnancy is going well too! Not sure if I shared, but we are having another boy 
Jake is one happy big brother! We are still thinking about names, although at this point we have settled on Luke Daniel. Nothing carved in stone, but everyone seems to like it.
The other big news is that we have decided to forgo a hospital birth this time in favor of homebirth. We have hooked up with a wonderful midwife, Cathy, who I am really loving and she is keeping me accountable with my diet and supplements, something I usually weasel my way around. Not this time
I hope to get some pictures up and some more details about our goings on Just hang in there - I have not abandoned my blog!
I promise!
Being on vacation and trying to stay with my program has been a little challenging. Preparing for the road trip I packed some food so we wouldnt have to hit the gas station and such for snacks. Of course, I obviously didnt put that much through into it. Snack? Lots of those! Meals - you know, actual food? Not so much. But, I survived.
My newest challenge has been working out while being sick and dealing with sick kids. Mandy got sick on Monday as we were finsihing up our drive. Kaite got it on Tuesday. Emma Wednesday morning and I followed up by Wednesday afternoon. Not sure what is going on with Jake. He hasnt been running a fever and he hasnt had the runny nose/congestion like the rest of us. But, he took a 5 hour nap yesterday (put himself to bed!) and has been uber grouchy!
Anyway, I got up yesterday to get my workout in and just coudlnt do it. I did about 20 minutes and then blah! Hit a wall and just couldnt push through it. This morning was kind of the same. I got up determined to workout. Jake woke up around the same time and a feeling of dread washed over me. I hoped that I could get through my workout… but no such luck. I was really having to push myself as it was. Now add in a grouchy 5 year old coming in every 30 seconds and yelling at me that he was hungry or cold or tired or bored or whatever!
Sigh
I now know why I get up at 5:30 in the morning to go to the gym. Totally worth it.
Oh - I wanted to clarify a little something. I totally messed up my weight loss from last week! I posted that I was down a pound, not sure where that came from. But I was actaully down 2 lbs! Big duh on my part.
Time to scoot! We have a big day today - as long as everyone is still breathing this morning
My Dad and I are taking the kids up to the mountains for a bit. My poor little Jake has never seen snow and wants more than anything to through a snowball. I am hoping to get some great pictures! Then we are heading off to Knoxville this afternoon. My Mom wants to spend some money on the kids and I am taking my parents out for a little early Anniversary present. Lucnh at PF Changs. They have never eaten there and we love it! They are celebrating their 40th Anniversary on February 15!
Well, I was doing a little better getting posts up last week that did not involve my weigh loss and excercise. But, life got in the way as it so often does.
Sunday the kids and I took off on a 900 mile journey to Tennessee. My paretns moved here about 2 years ago from Ohio. I kind of miss to being able to go back to where I grew up. But, looking at how much snow I am missing… I can live with Tennessee!
I am not able to weigh myself this week, but I jumped on the scale Sunday morning before leaving. I had lost another pound!! I was very excited!!! Woo-Hoo!
Driving up I was pretty good. Lots and lots of water. Stayed on plan Sunday and mostly Monday. I had a PB and J in the car. But, although I did not count my calories that day, I know, given what I ate the rest of the day, I wasnt that far off.
Exercise has been great! I have been getting my workouts in no problem. As a matter of fact, knowing that I was not going to be able to workout on Monday. I got up early Sunday and dragged my booty to the gym and got in a great workout before leaving on our road trip!
While here I have been working out in the garage. I brought an exercise band with me and have been usuing that for my strength training.
Today was cardio and I had brought a DVD to do. But, of course, I couldnt get the DVD player to work. I had a slight panic. But, instead of quitting or cheesing out, I ploppled my iPod on and went out into the garage. I did a little old school aerobics, step, dancing and calisthenics. I felt a little foolish at times. But, I go the heart pumping! I kept my heart rate up and burned alomst 400 calories in 30 min. I wished I did more time, but I got a late start and had to get the troops fed.
I am excited that I am doing well and sticking to it!
Of course, Kaitie and Mandy have been sicker than dogs! Fever, sore throats, caughing, runny nose. And guess what I feel sneaking up? I hate being sick. I am going to go slam some C and eat some homemade chicken soup. Sometimes its nice to be at “Mom’s house” even if you have never lived there before.
Check out 2 Moms 20 Lbs for some more weight loss motivation they can be found at Happy to be at Home
with blogging, that is!
I saw this video this morning and it brought a few tears to me eyes. Take a look and tell me what you think.
Its not hard to figure out where I stand in regards to our new President. But no matter where our opinions lie - I think we all have to remember that our President, no matter who he is, is someone’s Father, Husband, Son.
Let’s try to forget criticizing the man. But, oh… I will continue to criticize his policies… of yes I will!
So, as you can see I did not fall of the face of the Earth. I just haven’t been in much of a blogging mood and when the mood has struck I can’t think of anything profound to say and for some reason, I felt like I needed to be profound. (and write really long run-on sentences too)
I can’t believe its December! Holy cow! Where did this year go? Did you know that my little baby Emma will be one year old Tuesday? Weird huh? It makes me want to cry. 
In other news, our trip to Slidell was great! We had a wonderful time catching up with some old friends and meeting some new little ones that have been added the past few years. Jake made a two new friends, Wyatt and Jeffery. Kaitie and Mandy got to spend the night with their friend Emily.
The whole reason for our Slidell trip was to visit our friends, Adam and Andrea and their little one Aashini. You should really check out their blogs. They are living in South Asia and doing some awesome work for the Lord. Don’t tell them I said so this… but they are kind of like my heros now
They have actually inspired us to do something cool this year for a family Christmas present! We are going to sponsor a child through Compassion International! If you aren’t familiar with this organization, please check out the link!
Also… if you are looking to do a little extra giving this time of year, may I suggest International Mission Board. This organization helps people just like Adam and Andrea to help spread the message of the Gospel. I bet by doing this… you can pretty much guarantee that you will not be on the naughty list this year
And finally… Thanksgiving! What a great day We had some wonderful friends come over and ate way too much food. I was actually thinking of taking some pictures of the feast, but I totally forgot! (Just like I totally forgot to take my camera to Slidell - duh!) But, I will tell you what I prepared! The menu was:
Fried Turkey (Marc took care of this and did a wonderful job!), Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato Casserole, Green Bean Casserole (from scratch… and oh baby! Yummy!), Corn Bread Stuffing, Yankee Stuffing (what I grew up on) and Honey Butter Rolls. For dessert we had Pumpkin Pie and Pecan Pie (another killer recipe!) Please let me know if you are interested in any of the recipes
I have noticed that I am really bad at answering questions from my comments. Sorry if you have been ignored, but hey, it’s hard enough just posting somedays! to
So - Let’s see if I can make amends a little.
Bronie - Dorma Nesmond is a lady - seriously. No adams apple, I promise
Haley - Yeah! Pampered Chef! I so want to be there! Let me know what day it is, we have a meet on weekend and will be going to Louisiana one weekend. But, regardless, I will at least place an order! Thanks for the heads up about your Stampin’ Up website. I will take a look!
Karen - Hormones? That would be me. My long lost “friend” payed a visit while I was at Disney World. After 20 months… blah. Car? I’m not saying just yet. I need to post pics, will try and do that tomorrow. Which did we sell? Marc’s. I wish it was mine, but his was just plain nasty - so its all good Anymore damage? Oh boy… don’t ask. I will see about putting more pics up about that too. Gymnastics? The meet went great! They didn’t compete on bars, but they kicked booty on the other 3 events. And finally, Church, we like it. It’s no Northshore… but we like it. We’ll see if we stay, not sure yet.
And finally - a few people asked about the foot. Thankfully, its not broken. I have a nasty bruise on the top and it hurts like heck! I was usuing two crutches and the boot yesterday, I was one 1 crutch and the boot earlier today, and just the boot this evening. It is killing me. I am hobbling around like an old lady and even had to use they stupid motorized carts at the store. What can I say - I am such a dork! I am supposed to wear the boot for a week.
Misty - We are heading up to Dallas this weekend. Don’t know if you have any plans, but I would love to see if we can get together
Ok - that must be the most convoluted post I’ve made. I am gong to blame it on the vicoden. Yep… that;s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Yep - that kind of sums up the last two weeks. It was a roller coaster, a very wild one.
We had some meltdowns (by both children and Mommy)
We had some messes (by both children and pets)
We had some new teeth (4!)
We had some returning hormones (oh joy. How I love hormones. And sarcasm.)
We had a new car purchase
We had an old car sold
We had a bad rain storm bringing more damage
We had a visit from the insurance adjustor (happy days!)
We had a gymnastics meet
We had a visit to a new church
And lots more to come in the next few weeks.
I have so much to talk about, but my brain feels like its going to explode! This has sadly not been the Monday I was hoping for. But, its ok. I can only go up from here
More posts with pics later.
