Right Wing Mom

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!

Its Monday and believe it or not I am semi-happy about that. Why? Its all about getting back on track. We have been kind of fumbling around in the dark here the last few weeks and I am ready to get back on track and get some stuff done!

Lots to talk about this morning - nothing too in depth or really even interesting, just a bunch of stuff floating around in my head.

Watching my dogs “do their outside thing” can be very interesting. (Great topic to start off with right?) So, I am waiting for them to finish to let them back in when I see Buster walk over to a tree and pee on it. Kaya comes running over and pees over Busters “area” then Buster circles around the tree behind where Kaya is and pees over where he just went - kind of remarking. It was funny - they obviously have issues (as do I … talking about my dogs peeing)

Ok.. moving on.

Hitting the gym this morning was quite the chore. After not going for almost 3 weeks it was so hard to drag myself out the door! I got up in time and puttered around for almost an hour. I was trying so hard to justify not going. I am so glad that I ignore myself! It was a great workout and I was so happy to be back!!! I took it a little easier today than normal, doing only 2 sets per circuit verses my normal 3. Getting my food back under control will be my main focus the rest o the week. I have been getting progressively sloppier as I have been getting over being sick. The scale will probably reflect that this week which makes me a little sad - but its all about accountability… I know what I did and should not be surprised at the results.

Have I mentioned before how weird my kids can be sometimes? Kaitie and Mandy have been cracking me up with their choice of entertainment. First off - they begged me to put Bon Jovi - “Living on a Prayer” on their iPod. I think thats funny. Secondly they watched a movie this week that really made me laugh, just because they enjoyed it so much! It was “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” starring Myrna Loy, Carry Grant and a teenaged Shirley Temple. And dont get me started on their obsession with Animal Planet.

Oscars - did you watch? What did you think? I loved it! It was very well put together and I really liked how they had some past winners present the acting awards. I could have done without Sean Penn. But then again… I don’t think I have ever liked that butt head. Didn’t really care for the musical montage either… little weird. But I LOVED the opening! Who new Anne Hathaway could belt it out like that?

Jake lost his first tooth Saturday night. Kind of early don’t you think? I forget when the girls lost their first tooth, but I really thought it was much later. He was so happy about it! Sadly the tooth fairy forgot to come - and now that I am thinking about it… I hope he She remembered last night.

Last thing for now. Emma has (finally) started walking. She had been taking a few steps here and there and then last week she decided to get mobile! She is so proud of herself too! Sometimes after she takes 5 or so steps, she gets this big smile and her face and starts laughing - then she loses her balance… it pretty funny. Her favorite thing to do right now is to go across the room and pick something up and bring it to you. What a little helper!

I will (hopefully) be back on a little later to get my Monday Meal Plan up

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!

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

With my inconsistent blogging lately, I have fallen very behind in both updating and posting pictures. I thought I would try and break things down a bit - so here goes:

The last month we have celebrated both Kaitie and Mandy’s 10th birthday and Jake’s 5th birthday. Both were celebrated very differently. The girls had wonderful tea party, while Jake’s birthday was a little more low key - dinner, cake and presents.

I present you: Birthdays Part 1; Cake

So - if you can’t read (or tell) this is Kaitie and Mandy’s cake. Homemade Vanilla cake with butter cream frosting, filled with Strawberry preserves.

See those? Gum paste flowers…I made those Sorry - a little proud there. I had never worked with gum paste before, I think it turned out nicely! The girls loved it!!!

And it sharp contrast:

Jake’s cake. Homemade chocolate with butter cream frosting, filled with butter cream. Dusted with Cocoa and decorated with Star Wars figures. It take a little creativity to decorate a cake for a boy who can’t eat artificial colors.

Monsieur Jacob - from the great country of Batter Bowl, showing off his stylish batter bowl mustache.

I thought I would take a little time today to catch up a bit. I haven’t really been up for blogging lately. Tiredness, busyness and just general madness and mayhem have taken over.

Edouward is visiting today. It really cracks me up how, still in the wake of Katrina, the local news is just salivating over an impending hurricane. Its just another rainy day here. Just like any other rainy day, but you wouldn’t know that watching the news tis morning. They had an anchor-person, standing in full “hurricane-garb” commenting on the lack of traffic and showing the puddles that had accumulated on the road… yep I said puddles. Is there seriously nothing else to talk about this morning but puddles?

On the kid front

Kaitie and Mandy are gearing up for meet season. We are still not sure they will competing this year. Kaitie is a little closer to getting her skills down, but Mandy is not far behind. They have an “in house” meet this Friday. The coaches will use that to kind of gauge where the girls to see if they are ready.

The girls and I (Marc helped a bit too) built a practice beam this past week! It was super cheap and relatively easy to make. The girls are using it to practice their cartwheels and leaps ans jumps. I am so proud and amazed of what they can accomplish on that 4″ piece of wood!

Jake is doing well. We have been trying some new stuff with him to help him with his food and behavior issus (I hat eto put it that way, but I don’t know how else to put it) and it really seems to be helping! Yesterday, we actually gave him an apple, blueberries and almonds, all foods that in the past, were big no-no’s, He had no problem! Very exciting times!!!

He is starting to read now too. He has learned his “at” words and his “an” words. The bad thing is: he wants to learn too fast! I am having to pull back the reins with him. He gets some words down then he’s like “ok, what next?” There is a part of me that wants to let him go and start pouring it in, but the other part really, really wants to make sure that everything is soolid before moving on. Hmmm, what to do?

Emma is cute as always and getting so big! She surprised me the other day, I went to go get her out of her crib, and there she was… standing up. Little stinker. She’s still not digging on the food that much. Some days she eats ok, but most days she is just really content drinking up the breastmilk. Again - what a stinker!

Thats all the updating for now, I guess. I will try to get back in gear with blogging and get some new pictures up for ya’ll!

That would be Emma!

I know I am supposed to get my next batch of Disney photo’s up… but it is a little crazy around here today.

The kids and I are planning on going to a drive-in tonight! How cool is that? I grew up going to drive-ins and totally love them! Marc, for some reason, has no interest in going, oh well! WE will have fun and we will be thinking of Shannon and her kids the entire time (promise!) The first (and only) time the kids went and the last time I went was to go see Spiderman 2 with my awesome bestest friend in the entire world Shannon. We had such a blast, even if our girls got sick from eating a “Candy Salad.” Don’t ask.

Anyway, the only bad part about going to the drive-in? It’s about an hour away. Crazy? Yes. But, I do things like that sometimes. Keeps things interesting that way.

O.K., the little stinker part. Emma has been toying around with crawling. The other day she moved her arms, then did this little froggy hop where she jumped both her legs forward at the same time. Very weird, but so cute and funny. Well, last night I put her down on the floor in my room and she just took off! No hesitant crawling, no slow and steady.. Nope, she took off like a crazy woman. Just what I need - a mobile baby!

Hmm, looks like its time to get some baby gates. (cause you know I am not prepared - shocking, I know)

Hopefully I will get some Disney pics up a little later, if not, I will get them up tomorrow. I’ll see about getting some crawling video too

We didn’t get a chance last summer to check out the pool in our neighborhood - what a mistake! It is Awesome! We went for the first time on Sunday and like a dork I forgot my camera. But, we went back on Tuesday and I made sure to get some good pictures. Hope you enjoy!!!!

A few of Emma. She hasn’t liked going swimming before (once at a friends and once at the gym) But, she LOVED it this time!

I didn’t get many pics of Kaitie and Mandy, they were off doing their own thing in the big pool.

My Daddy (kind of hunky for an old man, don’t you think?)

And here is Jake. He loves the pool as you can probably see! He was so hard to get a picture of, but - I think I did ok!

Hands off Ladies! He’s only 4 and he wants to marry me

I feel like I need to apologize for not posting as much… but something has become very apparent to me. I am busy. Wow. I can’t believe I finally admitted that, but it’s true. I have become a very busy person.

The last week (and this next week too) are filled with end of year stuff for the girls. Their speech class and American Heritage Girls. Gymnastics has taken a jump too. They are trying to learn all their skills for the next level before the end of the month and they are getting ready to switch to their summer schedule. Marc is going to Canada for a week next month. Jake is well… you know Jake Emma is requiring more attention and entertainment. And we are trying to finish up with all of our homeschooling and trying to figure out the “master plan” for next year. I can’t believe Jake will be in Kindergarden. YIKES!!!!!

I think us passing germs back and forth to each other the past 3 weeks has not helped much either. Thankfully the kids and I are all better, Marc on the other hand is now battling strep. Yuck!!!

I will try and post a little more often. They will probably be shorter posts… but I will try

Oh - and to help with the business, today Emma decided that it would be a good idea to roll over from back to front. Oh boy! She now rolls over both ways and can sit up on her own. I am thinking that me hoping for a late walker is probably not going to happen. Katie walked at 9 months and 3 weeks, Mandy at 10 and Jake at 10. Yes, I am delusional.

Duh - sometimes I just can’t think of a good title.

So, where have I been? It’s been 12 days since my last post. Hmm, good question. I have been busy, sick and dealing with sick people.

A funny thing happens when you start taking your kids to the gym child care… they bring home lots of icky germs. Marc is on his second round of a cold. I had the sniffles, not too bad though. Got a lovely root canal last week, ok that would be sarcasm… but I must say - Nitrous good Now, I am dealing with Pink Eye. (all together now) Ewwww! Nasty! I am now trying not to pass it off onto the rest of my family. Emma had the nasty’s week. She had a bad fever for 2 days and was just so miserable. She is better now, but has a stuffy nose which means she is not sleeping very well. which means I am not sleeping very well.

We finally got the girls furniture for their room! Yeah!!! We went ahead and got Jake a new bed too. He had been sleeping in the crib still with one of the sides taken off, kind of like a day bed. Poor kid - he is in a big boy bed now Emma made the transition into the crib (with the side back on) and she has her own room now too - well sort of… we stuck her in the closet But, hey - we have a HUGE closet! (that makes it sound a little better right?) LOL!!!

We spent a few days last week putting the furniture together. I have a love/hate relationship with IKEA. Great stuff, real good prices… pain in the booty to put together. I would like to say you can sit back and have a sense of accomplishment when you are finished, which I do, but there is a part of me that thinks “Man, I should have paid someone to come out and do this”

We saw Iron Man last week - good movie. Yesterday we saw Speed Racer. I really liked it. Awesome visuals - the cinematography was out of this world! Jake was on the edge of his seat during the race scenes - very cute.

We had a nice Mother’s Day here. Poor Kaitie and Mandy hate that I get up so early and I have to go “back” to bed for breakfast. So - those awesome girls set their alarm for 5:30 - woke Marc up at made me breakfast in bed. LOL! They were so tickled that they got me still sleeping. I had a yummy bagel with cream cheese and Marc made a gorgeous omelette. Seriously - it was picture perfect! And yummy too! For dinner we went to Outback with 3 very tired, grouchy kids who didn’t eat much. Marc and I had fun though! On a funny note, Kaitie tried to order a T-Bone for her meal. LOL!

Oh, one more thing - my baby is now sitting up on her own! What a big girl!!! And she is starting to learn how to wave bye-bye. Very funny.

Pictures? Oh yes - I’ve got em. In the camera. So - I need to get them off and upload them. Today? I hope so. (no hating!!!)

Happy Belated Mother’s Day to all my wonderful Mommy friends!!!