I forgot how they take off.....

walking, that is. Baby Boo has been taking one or two or even up to three steps at a time for about a month now, but she has still used crawling as her primary means of getting around. Starting on her birthday (or at least that's when I noticed it), she's taking 5 or 6 steps and trying to get across rooms. She'd have an easier time if she wasn't always trying to carry stuff with her. It throws her off balance.

She got a new tooth in. So, let's see. That brings the total to 5 teeth. And I expect one in within a week since that's how the other 4 came in. The first one around 8 months, the second one a week later. The 3rd one around 11 months, and the 4th one 4 days later. So, now the 5th one I found yesterday. We'll see how long for the 6th.

Miss Priss is trying very hard to be a good big sister and keeps applauding Baby Boo's efforts at walking. She also tries to "help" her. Meaning, of course, that she grabs her hand and half drags her across the room hoping Baby Boo can keep up. Ah, the good intentions of a 3 year old.

Time for New Year's Resolutions?

Is it that time again? What a scary thought.

Well, let's see. I'll start with the obvious. Lose the rest of the weight. I made a lot of progress through the pool, and I know they'll be starting up again soon. I didn't have to pay the fatty fee once in the 12 weeks, and I lost almost 20 pounds. We will not discuss how much I gained back over Christmas. I would highly recommend it if you're looking to lose weight! The winner actually lost over 30 pounds! I'm not sure if I'll join this time only because I'm actually fairly close to my goal weight, so I don't have that much to lose. What a dilemma to have! LOL

More importantly, I intend to get in shape with a series of mini-goals. I need to get back on my water drinking (ugh, I can definitely tell I'm not drinking enough) and find a way to work in some workout time. Well, honestly, I need to find a way to drag my butt out of bed early enough to work out in the morning since that's the only time I have available. I just have to do it. But 5:30 comes so very early. But, seriously, I have to come up with some mini-goals that are achievable. I may have lost the weight (or a lot of it), but my fitness level is still in the crapper.

As far as the kids go, I have every intention of trying to be more patient with Miss Priss. She's 3. Which means she's on the 2nd year of being terribly 2. Someone with older children, please answer this for me: Do they just start developing an attitude at around 2 and then it gets worse and worse until it peaks when they are teenagers? Wait, don't answer that. I don't want to know. Anyway, I will try my hardest not to get angry with her when she's holding her sister down giving her sister a bear hug for about the 10th time even though I've already told her 20 times to stop.

As far as the little one goes, I fully intend to enjoy these last few precious months before she turns into the terrible 2-year-old and goes downhill from there.

Fortunately, there are still a few moments when they are both so very precious and sweet and I love them to pieces. Remind me of that when they are teenagers.

And, for my poor Hubby. I will work on keeping my hormones emotions in check and not taking out my frustration with Miss Priss and Baby Boo on him after they go to bed. I can be a nice person. I at least fooled him into believing showed him that at some point since he married me.

Don't I dream big for 2007? What are your New Year's Resolutions?

Almost exactly one year ago....

and probably past it by the time I get this published, my little Baby Boo was born. I can't believe she's a year old now. Where did the time go?

We had a wonderful Christmas. Miss Priss got a Dora scooter from Santa that she took off riding right away. Not sure where she learned to ride a scooter or if children are just born knowing how. She also got a Dora cash register courtesy of her aunt and uncle. A nice, loud toy that Miss Priss really loves. I think it's destined to be one of "those" toys -- you know, the ones that the batteries mysteriously die very quickly (because Mama pulled them out when no one was watching). Her aunt and uncle think it's very funny, but Miss Priss and Baby Boo are the first on that side of the family, and payback's a bitch, so they have no idea that when they have children, I will find the most obnoxious noisy toys to give their children. And, better yet, with parenting experience on my side, I'll already know what those are. Dora continued with a bath toy and a dress up doll.

Baby Boo got a TMX Elmo along with all sorts of fun things. And the same aunt and uncle joked that if we think Miss Priss's toy is loud, wait until we see Baby Boo's that's coming for her birthday. Haha. We'll see who gets the last laugh. I have a very long memory.

And God Bless Us, Everyone....

I love the movie choices this time of year. And since I now have DVR, I can record all of my favorites and watch them over and over again much to poor Hubby's dismay. Here is the list (that I can remember) of Christmas movies that are must sees every year. Sadly, I cannot find my favorite version of A Christmas Carol this year. And I cannot find Christmas Vacation without all the funny parts cut out unedited. But other than those two, I have the entire list on my DVR. I even got A Christmas Story unedited and commercial free (and White Christmas too!) Thank you, TCM!

Miss Priss has a definite preference for the Grinch over Rudolph. If I start to play Rudolph, she'll ask me to change it to the Grinch.

A Christmas Story
Christmas Vacation
A Christmas Carol -- the good version that I haven't managed to record this year
It's a Wonderful Life
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
White Christmas

In the famous words of Tiny Tim, God Bless Us, Everyone, now and in the coming year.

Only 2 More Days....

of work before we're off for the Christmas holiday. A 4 day weekend will be nice. I can't believe my baby girl will be one next week. Boy, time really flies!

I was starting to think that I was getting an early Christmas present because Baby Boo has been sleeping through the night for a few nights. However, last night she just didn't feel like it. Actually, I don't think she's feeling good, so hopefully she'll be back on track after she's feeling better.

Miss Priss woke up in the middle of the night complaining of her foot hurting. She seems to have growing pains in her legs, so I'm sure this is an extension of that. Probably her foot growing. She's got such a big foot, but it sounds like she'll need new shoes again soon. I'm hoping she can hold out until Spring and get new sandals, but she can always use new tennis shoes, too.

Baby's First Christmas

My grandmother is a little strange sometimes. Ever since her children started having children, she would buy a Hallmark baby's first Christmas ornament -- one for her tree and one for the parents of said grandchild's tree. When her first great-grandchild was born, she continued the tradition. Then Miss Priss was born, so she got one for her, my parents, and us. Well, as you know Baby Boo's birthday is quite close to Christmas, so last year even though I told her not to bother, she got Christmas ornaments for Baby's First Christmas 2005. Let me stop here to point out that I had a cousin who was born on Christmas Eve, so she felt the need to be prepared. The one for her tree doesn't match the one she gave his parents because she couldn't find two that were alike. So, to solve that problem, she bought 3 for 2005. So, instead of returning them and getting 3 more for 2006, she decided that we could all just "paint over the date." I found this highly annoying at the time, but I figured it was the pregnancy hormones talking. However, a year later, I still found myself annoyed that my baby girl wasn't worth getting the correct Baby's First Christmas Ornament. Everyone else had the right one, and I don't want to explain to Baby Boo when she's 10 years old that she has the wrong one because great-grandma didn't feel that she was worth buying the right one for.

Yes, this is all leading somewhere......

I got home yesterday to mac and cheese for dinner (my favorite) and a present from Hubby. He bought a Hallmark Baby's First Christmas Ornament for Baby Boo. I had been moping silently about it for a couple of days, but he knew how much I wanted it and got it more for me than for her. I knew there was a good reason I married him......

Picture from: http://www.hallmarkplace.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=1625

So, now, if my computer will cooperate.....

I will give an update. My computer has been misbehaving and shutting down and crashing for no good reason recently, and it is supposed to be fixed now. We'll see.

I can't believe my baby will be 1 in just over a week. Ack! Where did the time go. She's taken a few hesitant steps, but nothing that can be definitively defined as walking. She's is so stubborn and sees no need to walk. It's so much slower than crawling. She's getting big and is definitely not my picky eater. LOL I can't wait to turn the car seat around, so that I can scoot my seat back (in order for her car seat to sit at the right angle, I had to scoot the passenger seat forward).

I'm not sure what happened to my sweet little 3 year old. Oh, wait, I never had one. LOL She's developed quite an attitude recently. Who knew that 3 year olds knew absolutely everything? I certainly didn't.

I'm doing good. I've gotten all my presents bought and wrapped. Hubby's in charge of his parents and our siblings who are getting gift cards. Yeah, we put a lot of thought into that one. The girls are getting lots of fun things from everyone. I just love Christmas! And best of all, we don't have to drive anywhere -- just a few blocks away!

It's been a long time, hasn't it?

Sorry. I didn't drop off the face of the earth, but I've been very busy, and my computer has been acting up, so it's been a little crazy.

Baby Boo has finally gotten the hang of standing up on her own (and dancing as well), and she's taken a few shy steps one or two at a time. I can't believe she'll be one at the end of the month. Maybe then she'll start sleeping. I certainly hope so.

Miss Priss is getting to be so funny. She and her daddy had a long conversation the other day about whether or not she would like monkey meat. He's always teasing her that she's getting a monkey burger instead of a hamburger, so she told him that she doesn't like monkey meat. And then more specifically, it was the yellow monkeys she doesn't like. O-kay.

The lump went away after a couple of days, and so it was completely gone by the time I saw the doctor. He said that if it came back, I'm supposed to call and be seen ASAP. I'm supposed to tell the receptionist that it comes and goes and that he wants to see it when it's still around and to get me in within 48 hours. Hopefully, I don't have to call. If I do, it will probably be within the next couple of weeks, so we'll see.

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holiday season. I love this time of year.

Has anyone....

switched to the new version of Blogger? What do you think?

Baby Boo slept all night last night. I wish that was every night. After almost an hour and a half of trying to get her to go to sleep, I finally turned out all the lights (Miss Priss has to have the closet light on), turned on Miss Priss's CD, and put Baby Boo in crib to cry it out. Except she didn't cry. She just laid right down and went to sleep. Little turkey. Wish I'd thought of that an hour earlier. And then she didn't wake up until this morning.

But, alas, sleep was not to be because Miss Priss joined us as usual around 1 in the morning. That's a habit that I'm going to break as soon as I get Baby Boo sleeping good. Or maybe I should do it now, too, but I have to get some sleep, right?

Trying not to worry.....

I found a lump under my arm. I actually found it earlier this year, but it went away, and I decided it wasn't worth getting looked at (especially when there was nothing to see). I will not politicize on what it's like to go without health insurance and make decisions based on whether or not I think it's serious, so suffice it to say, I have health insurance now, and this is the third time it's appeared, so I'm getting it checked out. Friday. I have to wait all week long. And I'm not sure if I'm hoping it will disappear again or stick around until Friday. I guess the overriding feeling is that I want it to go away. Preferably forever.

So, I'll ask all my questions then. My new doctor was highly recommended by two people in my office, so I hope I'll like him. I figured while I'm there, I'll get some birth control pills and some antidepressants. I think I'm getting post-partum depression about 10 months late. I don't know, but I haven't felt like myself in a long time, and it's time I do something about it. I'm really worried, though, what antidepressants will do to my weight. It will not help my depression to gain weight. We'll see.

So, please be thinking of me. And will someone please say, "Don't worry, it will be fine. Trust me." Because I'm trying really hard to believe that this is really nothing.

No, I'm not MIA

I'm here. Just incredibly busy. So, now I have a lot of catching up to do when I have a chance to read all the blogs I usually read.

I have crossed the 10 lbs threshold, so that's exciting. It also means that I've almost (close enough for me) crossed the 20 lbs threshold from when I first started back in March or April or whenever it was. I haven't been this small in...well, I don't remember when, so that tells you how long it's been.

I hope to be back soon. Hope everyone's doing well. :)

Open to Any and All Suggestions.....

How do I make help my baby sleep through the night? Please, someone, anyone.....

Here's the situation:

Miss Priss goes to bed at 8:00 (or as close to that as I can manage). We start the bedtime routine at about 7:30. We watch an episode of her choosing, she goes to the bathroom, gives hugs and kisses, and goes to bed. She usually does pretty well with that.

Baby Boo on the other hand. Well, we start at 7:30 as well. I give her a bottle and rock her while Miss Priss's show is on. And I rock and rock and rock. She will eventually pass out somewhere between 8:15 and 8:45. (And just FYI, I've tried starting later thinking she's not tired enough, but it just delays when she goes to sleep, i.e. -- starting at 8:00 or 8:05 means she doesn't go to sleep until 8:45 or later).

Recently, she has started being even more difficult. She will start with these little screaming fits. I think these are usually gas or teething or both, so gas drops and teething gel usually seem to help. Then she feels the need to rub her hand against the wall while she's rocking. I've tried changing her position, but she always rolls back to where she can feel the wall. She usually leaves a little bit in her bottle, so she's not hungry, so I don't know what the deal is.

So, when she finally goes to sleep, I put her in her crib. This is very hit or miss. She can be very good and asleep and the second she hits the bed, she's up on all fours crying as loud as she can (which is only a precursor to the screaming that follows if I don't pick her up fast enough). Patting or rubbing or trying to get her to stay in the crib are met with screaming. She just wants out. It usually takes 2 tries before she's down for the night.

Except that's it. She's never down for the night. She's usually in her crib by 9:00. But, about 10:00 to 10:30, she wakes up. I have no idea why, but it seems to coincide really well with when I'm almost asleep (not sure why that is). Again, patting and rubbing do no good. She wants out of the crib. I would do a modified cry it out where I stayed with her and patted her and rubbed her and left her in the crib, but Miss Priss and Baby Boo share a room. Miss Priss definitely needs her beauty sleep, so I'm stuck. I usually bring Baby Boo into bed with me, but then I don't sleep good. She's a very restless sleeper -- always changing positions wanting to move from side to side and front to back. And it never fails that Miss Priss wanders in around 2:00am, too. Our queen bed has a hard time handling all 4 of us comfortably.

So, now I'm not sure what to do. But, I do know I need some sleep. Hubby seems to remember Miss Priss going through this stage, and after it was over, we could put her down to sleep at night while she was still awake, and we wouldn't hear from her until the next morning. I hope he's right and that the next stage is coming soon. I don't know how much longer I can keep this stage up.

But, in good news, I drank over 100 oz of water yesterday and not only took the long way into the building, but also took the stairs to my office (on the 9th floor). I could barely walk by the time I got here. LOL

I did it!

I lost 2 lbs, putting me at 167.0. Wow. I haven't weight this little since before Miss Priss was born. Or conceived. I was trying to lose weight when I found out I was pregnant with her, and I was 168 when I started that pregnancy. So, it's been at least 4 years. Wow. Just wow. Which, of course, encourages me to lose even more.

I've found the tricks that have worked the best for me are:
1. Water, water, water. Even though that means I absolutely hate water now.
2. Fitday.com. It's a free site that helps you keep track of what you eat, how much you're exercising, etc. I cannot say enough good things about it. I really love it (and, no, they aren't paying me to say that).
3. Dietfacts.com. If you eat out a lot (or get stuff through work sometimes), here's the info on lots of restaurants. And if you're logged into Fitday.com, it will automatically transfer the info to your account. Nice, huh?

Goals for next week:
1. Add more water. I've found that I like the water out of the fountain better than the water out of the water cooler. Yes, I know I'm a weirdo like that. The goal is 5 glasses a day while at work which should put me at 60 oz. I'm working up from there.
2. Find a way to get some exercise in my routine. The goal: when I get off the bus, there's a long way I can take to get to my office, but I usually don't bother. The goal for next week is to take the long way every day. Does walking in heels burn more calories? It should. What a cruel twist of nature if it doesn't. LOL It probably doesn't since you can't walk as fast, but I have to say that I can walk pretty damn fast in heels.

Hopefully, I have even more good news next week.

And is Blogger being mean to anyone else? I've tried to post this more than once, so if it's on here several times, it was because it wasn't showing up correctly for me.

I'm excited.....

I've been very good this week, so I better see more than the 1.2 lbs that I've been losing for the past, what, 3 weeks? I haven't weighed myself at all since last Friday even though some suggest that is a good thing (please take note, Heather and Sunshine, who told me that it was a bad thing to do -- the internet says I can --LOL -- please don't respond with all the sites that advise against it -- there would be too many!).

So, I've been good. I've actually been forcing myself to drink a lot of water (which I absolutely hate!). I start by setting a time limit. I have to drink a glass of water (and I have a glass I always use at work -- it's 12 oz) by 10:00. Then another by 12:00, another by 2:00, and a fourth by 4:00. I've been challenging myself to add a 5th glass throughout the day. That's worked about half the time. I hate the taste of water so much that I'm usually downing a full glass at 9:45, 11:45, etc, etc, etc. You get the idea. I don't want to even admit just how little I was drinking before I started this technique. Don't even want to think about it.

So, I'm hoping that I am rewarded on the scale tomorrow morning. Unless I'm retaining a lot of water. LOL Good luck to all my fellow swimmers in the pool.

Long time, no see....

Did you miss me?

It's been a busy week. And I was sick last Friday. Ugh. I hate being sick.

Miss Priss had her 3 year checkup (only a month and a half late) last Friday. She is 39" tall (not following that 50% curve anymore) and 33 lbs. She is doing a lot of skills for early 3 year old and some later 3 year old. My husband asked about all of her various ailments (the legs hurting -- normal growing pains unless it's the same place everytime, the mosquito bites -- she gets these huge welts whenever she gets mosquito bites -- apparently that's normal too, and her battles with constipation). So, she's on track and doing well. She gets her flu shot next month. Hold on. I've got to add that to my calendar real fast before I forget.

Baby Boo, my little chuncker, is doing well too. She had her 9 month appointment (only 2 weeks late) last Friday as well. Yes, Hubby took them both to the doctor by himself. He should win a medal. Or a cookie. Something. She is 28 1/2 inches tall and 21 lbs 4 oz. She's doing everything she's supposed to be doing as well, and we're supposed to start giving her more table food and less baby food. She got 4 shots, so now she's completely caught up (since she missed those 6 month shots). She got the first half of her flu shot and will get the second half when Miss Priss gets hers.

Hubby said he really liked the new doctor I chose. Thank you very much. And that he really liked her staff as well. Sometimes the staff is the make or break point for a good doctor. They took really good care of him even though he wasn't sure of everything with the paperwork, so they just called me since I filled it all out. I took care of it.

Now to find me a doctor. I need to get in to see a doctor myself. And I'd like to see a dermatologist. I love having good insurance. That is such a perk of my job.

The things kids say.....

Maaaaamaaaa! At 2 am, this is Baby Boo's favorite thing to say! Oh, wait, she counts as a baby not a kid, right?

You have to picture this one in the most hyper, over the top, enthusiastic voice possible from a 3 year old, "Yes, let's make blueberry muffins! I love blueberry muffins! And we'll put some butter on them! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Punctuation and spaces are my addition since that was all one word when Miss Priss said it.

"Mama, I want to go to school. My friends miss me." And then, "I'm going to play with Susie and Billy*. They're nice. I like them. They love me."

* Not their real names.

Uneventful Weekend....

This is the costume that we got Baby Boo over the weekend. It looks just as cute on my baby girl as on the model here. Maybe even cuter (but that's because I'm a little biased). Of course, the little model doesn't keep trying to turn around and chew on her wings either. Ahem. And Baby Boo doesn't exactly stand up by herself.

It's funny how even though I told myself that I would do the same things with Baby Boo that I did with Miss Priss, I'm so much more relaxed this time around. If Miss Priss wasn't doing everything ahead of schedule, I worried that she was behind. I know, I know, I'm a neurotic parent. Fortunately, I've mellowed a bit. And I'm not even comparing Baby Boo to Miss Priss as far as what she "should" be doing at this point (or at least I'm trying not to). So, now Baby Boo has a cute little costume although I don't know where she'll wear it -- I don't think we'll go trick or treating, but that's neither here nor there. It will make adorable pictures.

And for Miss Priss? She's going to be Little Red Riding Hood. I had to think about what she could wear to school so that she could still play and have fun, but still be dressed up. And I refuse to pay an arm and a leg for something that she'll wear only once. So, there you have it. I know that a lot of her friends at school will probably be in the super expensive outfits (she goes to a somewhat ritzy pre-school -- I think I'm the only working mother of all the mothers in the class). A lot of her little friends wear dresses and very nice clothes to school -- sorry, I want her to have fun and get dirty, so she's not wearing her best clothes to pre-school. It's not a competition to me to see who can put their child in the most expensive clothes. Sorry. Rant over now.

I got a haircut, and Hubby got a new toy. Don't even get me started on the Roboraptor (and we didn't pay nearly that much for it, by the way). It keeps him entertained, and it's kind of funny to watch it move around. Hubby thought it would be funny to see how my in-laws' dog reacted to it. He got the desired reaction. It's a funny little toy.

So, that was my weekend. Did anyone do anything fun?

Need Your Help.....

I really enjoy reading all the blogs in my list, but I'd like to add a few more. Please let me know what some of your favorite blogs are (besides mine of course LOL).

What we want for our kids.....

We got Miss Priss's first evaluation (if you can call it that) from her daycare last week. Just going over the basic things since we have a parent-teacher conference in January or February. The first question on the form was about how they were adjusting to being in school. The answer was something about how she struggled at first, but now she likes it. There were other little things; apparently she is slower to join in group singing and stuff and prefers to just watch, etc. Basically, she's a shy child. When I started asking questions about it, Hubby said, "I knew I shouldn't have shown it to you."

What is that supposed to mean? He knows me too well. He knew that I would have a mini-freakout over what is basically nothing. In fact, I don't know why anything in the evaluation bothered me.

I started thinking about it. Why would it bother me at all if she was shy. If there was an evaluation like that from 23 years ago when I was her age, it would have said basically the same thing. So, what's the issue? That's just it. She's just like me. And I don't want that.

Not that being me is bad. Don't get me wrong. It's just that there are time in my life when shyness has been a major factor for me. I've always been more of a loner and don't have a lot of friends (in fact, I'm closer to several people on the internet than I am in real life). I could count on one hand the number of people that I am close to. And the number that I would share really deep secrets with is probably only one (my husband). This isn't necessarily bad, but I've always envied those who make friends easily wherever they go. I'm just not that person.

And I don't want my baby girl to be an outcast (and I don't know why I feel that she would be -- I was shy and was never an outcast). I never want her to feel uncomfortable in any situation or feel the anxiety (or anxiety attacks) that I have.

I know it's unrealistic to expect that her life will be perfect and she'll never get hurt, but I'm her Mommy, so in my perfect world that's how it would work. All of that from one little form. Imagine what the parent-teacher conference will do to me.

And, for the record, I do realize that one stupid form from her preschool when she is 3 years old doesn't mean she'll be a shy, outcast, anxiety prone woman.

Ah, the joys of being a mommy. It's so hard sometimes.

Okay, okay, I'm better now....

Maybe that's because I actually lost over a pound, so I owe no money. Yay! And Heather and Sunshine assure me that it's not a good idea to weigh myself twice a day every day. So, I have promised (scout's honor -- damn my scout training!) not to look at the scale until next Friday. I think the only way to accomplish this is to break it (but then it won't work next Friday) or to have Hubby hide it. I might do that.

Am I the only one who found Project Runway to be anti-climactic? I watched the ending with a what-was-the-point-of-the-episode-then feeling. I'm excited to see what they come up with, and I always love the reunion show which is next week. I can't wait to see the final collections. I guess that explains why you can see fashion week stuff from all of them on www.bravotv.com/projectrunway. I just assumed (before this episode that is) that they had all 4 of them do a collection and then only judged the 3 finalists so that no one would know ahead of time who the final 3 were.

And I'm so glad it's Friday. I don't have any weekend plans this week, so I can get caught up on all the laundry and cleaning that needs to be done at my house.

Blah

That's how I feel today. And how I've felt for a few days now. I'm in a funk, and I hope I snap out of it soon.

Maybe it was the weekend and all the events of it. It's still so sad to see my grandfather without my grandmother. He's doing okay, but still...... It was very nice to see my little brother. He's doing very well in Seattle and seems to be very happy, so I'm happy for him. He's in his second year of law school, so he'll be there at least another 2 years or so.

Maybe I'm not getting enough sleep. I'm so tired. The girls don't sleep very well, so I don't either. Fortunately, they both slept well last night and were both asleep when I left this morning. It's hard to be away from them all day long, but I know that it's worth it and it's necessary. Otherwise, I would be worried about paying the bills. It's the first time in a long time that's not as much of a worry for me (it's still there, believe me, but it's not my #1 worry).

Maybe I'm not getting enough time to myself. And, for that, I only have myself to blame. There's just not enough hours in the day.

Maybe it's because I feel so out of shape. I want to drop a lot of weight, and I feel like I'm only gaining (but I am weighing myself at the end of the day after dinner -- not a smart idea). But more importantly, I want to feel energized and in shape. However, the only time when that would work would be first thing in the morning. And it's far too easy to hit snooze especially when I was up late.

Maybe it's just the fact that my period is ending (thank goodness), and I have always been depressed for about 3 or 4 days afterward. I wonder if it's a hormonal drop or rise. Hmm.....I don't know. But that means the funk should be over soon.

I hope so.....

Why, oh why?!

Why will my baby not sleep through the night anymore, and why won't my big girl stay in her bed all night? I just want a good night's sleep. Is that too much to ask?

I am asking for advice. Lay it on me. There has to be a solution!

After one week.....

I've lost a little over a pound. Yay! If you are interested in signing up, they are taking late registration. It's wonderful to have other people to encourage you and who understand. And winning a little money wouldn't hurt, right? Check it out -- Deep End of the Pool.

The weekend went okay. Nothing I'm ready to blog about. Maybe tomorrow. I'm really tired today.

S-H-I-T

A woman I used to work with a long time ago used to tell this joke:

A woman gets onto an elevator and there is another man in the elevator already. As they're going up, she says, "T-G-I-F!"

He replies, "S-H-I-T!"

As she's getting off the elevator, she says, "I don't know what you think I said, but I only said, Thank Goodness It's Friday."

"And all I said was, 'Sorry, Honey, It's Thursday!'"

I honestly thought it was a very stupid joke -- especially after I'd heard it over and over again. But, then there are those Thursdays when I remember it. This is one of those days. I'm so tired. My parents are coming in tonight, so while I'm looking forward to seeing them, it also means that I have to start cleaning my house as soon as I get home. It's not too bad, just not parent-ready.

I'm moping.....

because Project Runway is not a new episode tonight. How dare they do that to their devoted fans?! How. Dare. They.

But, I'm not moping because I did very well yesterday (despite the oreos). My entire consumption consisted of two Lean Pockets at 8:00 and 10:00, a Lean Cuisine lunch (very yummy, but not nearly enough food portion controlled), the oreos and juice, and then what Hubby made for dinner. Nice attempt at sabotage that was. Fried chicken strips, mashed potatoes, potato skins, and apple flautas for dessert. Fortunately for me, I envoked the portion control rule and only at about half of what I would normally eat. So, I was being good. And I had a popcicle before I went to bed, but it was sugar free and 15 calories, so I'm not worried. Now, if I can keep this up, I'll be doing good.

I do need to work really, really hard on drinking more water. I'm not getting nearly enough to drink. So, that's my goal for the rest of the week. More water. Lots more water.

Oh, and Hubby and I pre-ordered TMX Elmo for Baby Boo for Christmas/Birthday. We were a little leary considering we ordered it sight unseen. Hubby's picking it up today. I'm thinking of selling it on ebay. Baby Boo will never know the difference, and we can get her one in the spring. Who'd have thought that Tickle Me Elmo would be the toy to have this Christmas (<--she says with a merry twinkle in her eye)?

Does it count?

So, if I eat two oreo cookies and drink a juice becuase I just gave blood, do you think that counts against me? Surely giving blood appeases the weight loss gods somewhat and those stupid cookies and juice won't settle onto my hips. Right?

Other than that, I've been good today, so that has to make it better. LOL

Holy Cow! What happened to my baby?

Miss Priss seems to have grown up overnight -- she's using lots of big words, and words like "skeins" (it's a measure of yarn, and I'm not sure I spelled it right). She also builds houses. Hubby had a great idea to get her blocks for her birthday. The thing is, she builds them with the triangles at the top for the roof, but she also puts another little brick up there. I asked her what it was, and she looked at me funny (as if to say, "Duh, mom!") and said, "That's the chimney." Oh. Yeah. Right. Duh, mom.

And poor little Baby Boo fell down and went bonk. Mr. Eye, meet Mr. Table. Yeah, so now she has this thin line of a bruise from the corner of her eye toward the temple. Cute. Just how I want the rest of my family to see her this weekend. I hope she's a quick healer.

And, I decided to be brutally honest with myself as far as the weight loss and take some pictures. I don't want to look at them, but I keep assuring myself when I'm thin and gorgeous that I'll want to see how far I've come. I hope I'm right. And I took measurements. Ew. And as of Sunday night, I was174.0 lbs. I'd like to see some major weight loss.

Hubby watched the girls last night while I went to the workout center at our apartment complex. I spent 30 minutes on the recumbant bike doing the "weight loss course." I want to see some results. My goal is to go to the workout center at least 4 times a week (hey, I'm trying to be realistic). My other goal this week is to drink more water. Lots and lots of water. I've also added breakfast to my diet. Let's hope all of this works.

Eeek! I'm already falling off the wagon.....

I had a big lunch. I better nip this in the bud because I don't want to have to pay this week. I have to lose weight this first week. I feel the need to exercise tonight. But then I won't sleep. Maybe tomorrow morning.

Must.lose.weight......

Anyway, I had a fun day yesterday cleaning out our deep freeze. Yeah, it must not have sealed well because we lost about half the stuff in the freezer. And, of course, that would be the expensive half -- the chicken and beef. Some of it was still pretty frozen, but we decided not to take the chance. If it was just Hubby and I, I think we would almost have risked it and known to cook it thoroughly, but with the girls, we weren't taking any chances. Here's hoping this week gets better.......

Okay, my Project Runway friends.....

who expected those special guests last night? Interesting idea.....but sadly for Angela and Vincent, they failed to win.

So, let's do a recap, shall we? We have left:

Michael
Loved his dress last night. Wouldn't look good on me (pasty girl in white -- not pretty), but he seems to be able to design well. He thinks of things that always seem to look good (except for last week's rabbit ears dress). If I had to choose a designer that I was rooting for, it would be Michael.

Laura
I really liked her dress. And it looks like something I would actually wear. I really feel for her since she's pregnant. That's got to be exhausting on so many levels. Physically, I remember that I could barely make it to 10:00 at night when I was pregnant with Baby Boo (that or I couldn't sleep), and their competitions always end at midnight. Emotionally, you can tell she's really struggling. She seems like such a strong woman, but pregnancy hormones are hell. I hope she sticks around to the final 3.

Uli
She's the other one I would want in my top three. Her clothes alway seem fun and flirty and flowing. Lots of Fs there. I'd like to see what a large collection of hers looks like.

Jeffery
We can never forget Jeffery. If I was a stylish person, I probably would have liked his. Aren't tights making a comeback along with the skinny pants (ewwwww.......shudder!). I have a feeling they'll put him in the final three because they always have one that's a little off the wall.


And the eliminated:

Ah, Kayne. What can you say? I really liked the look of his dress from the front. But, when she turned around -- ack! I did not like the back at all. Sad to see him go, but that dress was not working for me.

And Vincent and Angela showed just why they were voted off the first time.

Deep End of the Pool

Heather (Was That My Outloud Voice) and Sunshine (...And The Pursuit of Happiness) have set up a new blog called Deep End of the Pool, to help those of us who want to lose weight. This is not your ordinary weight loss blog. It's a competition. And nothing encourages me more than competition. Basically, it works like this -- you weigh in every Friday, and post your weight. If you lose weight, you owe nothing. If you maintain or gain weight, you owe $5. It's free to sign up, so you never owe any money unless you maintain or gain weight. But, you can win a prize. There will be two prizes given -- one for the person who loses the most weight, and one for the person who loses the biggest percentage. Several people have already signed up, and the more the merrier. So, if you're looking to lose weight and need a little extra push, here it is. :) Plus, if you have a blog, they'll link to your blog, so you can find other blogs as well if you're looking for new reading material. You have to sign up by Sunday, so check it out.

Who in the world.....

is the man living in my house? Because that is definitely not my husband. This guy cooks, does laundry, and picks up the house. And even mentioned something about helping me find time to exercise in the evenings while he watches the girls. Don't get me wrong. I'll keep him. I'm just curious where my husband went.

We're going next weekend to spread my grandmother's ashes. We're going to East Texas where she grew up. Well, actually, I think the actual place where were spreading her ashes is in Louisiana, but we're staying with family in East Texas. My grandmother's father died when she was 6 months old, so her mother took her and her siblings to live with her grandparents. They had a house on a plot of land that keeps getting divided up as people die. My grandmother used to call it "God's Little Acre." So, she's going to live forever where she grew up. It seems only fitting.

I love my family and getting together with them; I only wish it was a happier occasion. Some of them haven't even see Baby Boo, so she better behave. Sadly, I don't think I have any pictures of my grandmother with Baby Boo. I have a few of her with Miss Priss, but none with Baby Boo. And my brother hasn't seen Baby Boo since she was only a couple weeks old. I don't think he'll even recognize her.

Chivalry is Not Dead!

I ride the bus to work every day. I take one bus for most of the trip, but then I have to switch buses to get to my building. I'm only on the 2nd bus for about 5 minutes (unless traffic is really heavy), so it's not too bad. Most days I get on (I say most like I've been doing this for years), and it's standing room only. Well, for the past 3 or 4 days, I haven't had to stand. There are gentlemen on the bus who will stand up and let me sit (and others too, so it's not just my good looks that are getting me a seat -- please not the heavy dose of sarcasm). I have to say that, in a world where people rarely hold doors anymore, it really makes my day when someone is willing to be so selfless.

In regards to the 5th anniversary of 9/11, I can only say that I am still saddened and speechless over what happened. Even 5 years later. Truly a day that no one will ever forget.

I'm so proud of myself....

I didn't check to see if I'd lost any weight this morning. Of course, I was half asleep since I got up just in time to make sure I made it to work on time. However, going a whole month is going to be hard. I hope I can do it.

I have no weekend plans except to clean out the closets that have needed it ever since we piled boxes in them when we moved in. I will be organized by Monday. I will. I certainly will. Hopefully.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

Well....

now that I'm starting to settle into my work routine, it's time to refocus on my weight loss routine. I've decided I'm only weighing in once a month. That way there's a dramatic change (there better be, at least!). Fortunately, in the two months where I wasn't really trying to lose weight, I didn't gain it all back. For the most part, I hovered in the lower 170s. To me, that is very encouraging -- once I do lose all the weight I'm hoping to lose, at least I'll be able to maintain pretty well.

Now that I'm working all day, snacking isn't an easy option to cure boredom, so that should help as well. I also get a little exercise at work even if it's just going between buildings. So, I've got high hopes. My only thing I have to watch out for is the fact that I'm no longer breastfeeding, so I'm not losing those calories.

I am so proud of myself for making it 8 months breastfeeding Baby Boo. I was hoping to make it longer than Miss Priss (3 months). I did. And then some.

And since I'm so environmentally friendly, I'm riding the bus to work. Well, that's not all true. Yes, I'm not polluting with my car, but the real reason is that I hate driving in rush hour traffic (it scares me to death), and my commute is long (a little over an hour), so it works out best for me to relax and read a book on the bus.

Funny how I've become more environmentally friendly recently. I'm also recycling.

Hope everyone has a great day! :)

So, here's the update......

Let's see. The last time I was posting with any regularity was in June, so it's been a while. We packed up and moved all of our stuff and the next day, we set out on a 13 hour car ride (which becomes 14 to 15 hours with two young children) to visit my husband's family. It was wonderful. Two weeks of much needed vacation and rest time. We stopped in to see my grandparents on our way back home. I'm really glad that we did. My grandmother died the next weekend, and knowing that she got to see the girls that last time was really comforting to me. She adored them and told me not long after Miss Priss was born that she had never expected to live to see grandchildren much less great-grandchildren.

When we returned from the funeral, my job hunt began in earnest. Since my skills are pretty much easy to match up with a lot of jobs (being a secretary does have some advantages), I applied at a lot of different places. And heard back from none. Talk about depressing. I didn't that I was that unemployable. Finally, I got a break and got an interview. I met with this woman for about 30 minutes, but things just clicked. Her job is to interview me and then send my resume and information and I guess her opinions of me around to the people in her department who do the hiring. So, since I thought things had gone so well, I thought for sure I would have lots of people calling this time (they have a lot of openings in the department). No such luck. I got one phone call. It was starting to get more depressing. However, I went on the interview and got the impression that they really wanted to hire me (since the interview was an hour and a half long). So, I wasn't surprised when I heard back from them two days later. They had to post the job for a certain number of days, but they were very interested in me, so.....a week later, I got the official call from HR. My salary is double what I was making in my last job. Even with the cost of living increase since we moved, it's enough to cover the bills and make us slightly comfortable with only my income so that my husband can go to school full time and not have to worry about finding a part time job (unless he wants to).

The only thing I dread is the commute. I do plan on taking advantage of public transportation, so I'll be taking the bus. I get a great deal on a bus pass through my new job, so I'm looking at about an hour commute each way every day. I do kind of look forward to the time by myself though. I don't have nearly as much time as I used to for reading or doing anything for me. Even just sitting and daydreaming for a while will be nice. And not having to pay for gas will be even nicer. Gas prices are still way to high to make it feasible for me to drive to work.

So, the plan for now is to get my husband through school, get him a good job so that he can support me through school. And I may look into a night school. Not sure on that yet.

So, the update on Miss Priss is that she started pre-school last Tuesday (she's going Tuesdays and Thursdays). On her first day of school she didn't cry when we dropped her off. She seemed very bashful and shy, but no tears. She was still seeming bashful and shy when we picked her up, but I was glad to see she was still in the same clothes. When we had visited the school, she didn't even want to look in the bathroom, so I was sure she wouldn't want to use it. I tried to get info out of her about her day, but she didn't say much. She would answer my questions though, so I got quite a bit of info that way. I told her how proud I was of her that she didn't cry and that she went in and joined her class. Her response? "I did cry, Mama."
"You didn't when we left."
"No, in the bathroom."
"You cried in the bathroom?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"'Cause they shut the door."
Okay, here's where I had a "D'oh!" moment. In the process of potty training Miss Priss, we were usually in such a hurry to get to the bathroom before she had an accident that I never even thought about closing the door. Never even crossed my mind. So, now she sees it as some sort of punishment or something to be closed up in a little bathroom. Ooops.

So, Thursday, we went back and she did cry when we left that time. Go figure. Now she knew the drill and that Mommy and Daddy were leaving. She did pretty good that day though (according to her teachers) and, much to my surprise, went to the bathroom and even closed the door behind her. I was shocked. So far, she seems to really like her preschool and her "new friends" as she calls them. My husband thinks I'm weird because I already know the names of everyone in her class. Maybe that is weird.

And little Baby Boo (who is 8 months old today, by the way). I can't believe she's that big already. In the span of two weeks, she went from just starting to get up on all fours to crawling, to pulling up. She also added waving bye-bye and saying Maaaaamaaaaa in there as well. She's getting so big. And, as of three days ago, she finally has a tooth. Miss Priss got her first tooth at 4 months, so I started looking for Baby Boo's around then too. I guess no two children are alike. :)

Baby Boo is definitely my light sleeper. Miss Priss can sleep through just about anything, but not the little one. We started putting her in her own bed after we got back from vacation, so she is in the same room as Miss Priss. If Baby Boo starts crying, Miss Priss sleeps right through it without so much as rolling over. However, is Miss Priss wakes up and mumbles something or coughs or anything, Baby Boo is sitting up and trying to pull up out of bed by the time I get there (and I'm only about 20 steps away if that).

So, I start Monday (or tomorrow now I guess it is), my husband starts school on Tuesday, Miss Priss started school last Tuesday, and Baby Boo is rolling right along. I hope everyone is doing well, and I can't wait to get caught up on the blogs that I read since it's been forever.

Sorry....

to leave you guys in the dark. :) I'll be back later this weekend with a major update. :)

Oh, and, I did get the job. (And I'm making about twice as much as my last job!)

So...

my interview yesterday turned out to be sort of a "screening" interview. She then recommends me to the people who actually do the hiring. However, as of this afternoon, I've already had one call and have another interview set up for Monday. The woman that I interviewed with yesterday was really easy to talk to, and we had a lot in common, so I think it went well. I've got my fingers crossed that I'll have a job soon.

I forgot how fast babies learn. In the course of a week, Baby Boo has learned how to crawl effectively (instead of the belly flop crawl where she would get up on all fours and fling herself forward on her belly), to go from crawling to sitting up and back again, to pull up, to wave hi (well, there's not much waving involved so much as just putting her arm out), and to give little squishy kisses. She's growing like a little weed and is so heavy to carry for any length of time.

And Miss Priss's birthday is in less than a week. What happened to my baby? I can't believe she's going to be 3.

Interview Today!

Please send me all the good wishes and prayers! :) Hopefully, I'll have good news to report soon! :)

Keep your fingers crossed....

for me! I might have a nibble on the job front, and it looks very promising! :)

Sorry to keep disappearing....

I've been busy with the job hunt, and my grandmother died last weekend. I will be back soon, I promise!

A Quick Update

from my grandparents' house (yes, we're just visiting everyone). We had a great time visiting my husband's family, and we stopped by grandparents' house to see them and my parents on the way home. Happily, I have only gained 3 lbs on my 2 weeks of vacation (yes, considering what I was eating, that is quite a feat!). We will return home on Monday or Sunday, and then the job hunt will begin in earnest. I hope it goes well. I got a great reference letter from one of my former bosses, so I hope that will help. Hope everyone is doing well. It will take forever to catch up on blogs. :)

Checking in....

All of our stuff is in a truck ready to be moved in tomorrow. And then the next day, we are headed out of town for a couple of weeks. Then I should be on regularly (and with a cable modem!). I hope everyone is doing well.

I have been tagged.....

and it's a good thing too since I can't really think of anything to blog about. :) Thanks, Dawn!

So, here goes:

5 things in my refrigerator:
1. Yougurt (in tupperware since Miss Priss decided to open all of them)
2. Bottled water. I don't drink it, but Miss Priss drinks a lot more water if it comes out of a bottle. Go figure.
3. Steaks for dinner.
4. Corn to go with the steaks (I love when corn is cheap!)
5. Milk.

5 things in my closet:
1. Clothes.
2. Magazines (I just toss my magazines in a box in my closet when I'm done with them)
3. Shoes. Lots of shoes.
4. Boxes of clothes (winter clothes, clothes that will fit again soon)
5. Hubby's clothes.

5 things in my purse:
1. Cell phone.
2. Diaper bag stuff (my purse doubles as a diaper bag -- I just don't feel like carrying two bags)
3. Keys.
4. Wallet.
5. Lots of change in the bottom.

5 things in my car:
1. Two carseats that take up all the room in the backseat.
2. Lots of pens and paper. I make lists in the car (while my husband drives, don't worry), so the paper and pens always get left in there.
3. A tire guage and ice scraper.
4. Miss Priss's books. And toys.
5. Dora window shade and Monkey window shade on the back windows. They actually don't shade the sun completely, but if Miss Priss is complaining about the sun, I just pull it down, and suddenly the sun ceases to exist in her mind. Works wonders.

So, I tag:
Lynsey
Amanda
Heather
Elise
Sabrina
Dana
AnneMeg

Sorry, I like to tag a bunch to see what everyone says. :)

And, I'm officially under 170. Yay! 169.6. I'll take it. Especially since I had another weekend of fast food last weekend. And, hopefully, packing to move will help too since that's a lot of exercise and keeps me busy so I don't eat from boredom.

I'm back....

and we have a place to live once we move. And Miss Priss is already enrolled in a pre-school that starts in the fall. My mother-in-law is keeping them when I go back to work. So, I'll be on sporadically for the next couple of weeks while we pack up. We are hoping to have an organized move (and therefore an organized home) when we get settled. Hahahahahahahahahahaha. Ahem. And after that, we will be off for a 2 week vacation to visit family. So. The next month or so will be hectic. But, I'm also excited about the possibilities. :)

Yesterday....

did turn out to be a beautiful day as I suspected it would when I woke up. The girls behaved very well -- both of them. Which, of course, means they'll probably be little terrors today. LOL. I got my housecleaning done early, so I had all day to kind of laze around and play with the girls. I think I'll do my housecleaning early everyday. That was very relaxing. I even made dinner. Steak and baked potatoes and grilled corn. Now, around my house, it is no secret that I'm the world's worst cook (a fact I accept). So the fact that my meal last night turned out well (and not overdone) was a pleasant surprise. I did promise my daughter that we could make chocolate chip cookies today. Hmmm.....maybe I'll look up a low(er) fat chocolate chip cookie recipe. Does such a thing exist? Or maybe I'll decide that....hell....they're chocolate chip cookies, in order for them to taste good, they have to have all the fat. LOL. I noticed that the local grocery store had ice cream on sale for 3/$10 -- a phenomenal deal on the brand I buy. Here's how well I'm doing on my diet -- I walked right by it and told myself that there was no need for ice cream no matter how good the deal because it will mess up the progress I'm making. Never thought I'd see the day where I could pass up ice cream. But, it's true. If I buy ice cream, I'll eat it at least once a day (and a lot of it), so it's best just to keep it out of the house completely. Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

Another Reason

that I like living in the country. Waking up to mornings like this one. I woke up before the sun came up. You know, when the sky is that beautiful shade of blue before it's flooded with sunlight. Since we have no air conditioning (yes, Texas, in the summer, not a good idea), we've been leaving our window open at night so that the cool air can get in. This morning, I could hear the birds and crickets chirping. It makes me feel so calm and relaxed. It reminds me of when we would go camping when I was younger, and I would wake up in a tent with that same feeling. All it lacked this morning was the sound of someone putting the coffeepot on the camp stove. I miss camping. My dad's family used to go every year until people started getting too old. The children had so many committments over the summer, and the adults literally just couldn't quite handle sleeping in a tent for 3 or 4 days. I miss the family campouts, but once in a while, on a morning like this, I wake up and know it's going to be a beautiful day!

Why I Like Living in the Country....

There are science lessons all around you. I grew up in the country, and I credit that for my love of science and biology. For example, the baby birds to the left are actually on my front porch. Miss Priss and I watched as the Mommy and Daddy birds built the nest and then proceeded to watch over it. I assured her that there were eggs in it. Since it is about 12 feet to get up there, I didn't know for certain, but the fact that they spent every night huddled in the nest made me pretty sure. And, sure enough, two nights ago, I went out and saw the entire family of 6 crowded into the nest. During the day, Mommy and Daddy bird go eat mosquitoes and flies (or at least I hope they do -- someone told Hubby that those kinds of birds eat mosquitoes and flies). I took this picture this morning after they left. I don't wish to get attacked by any birds.

I am now 170.0 lbs. I have lost 13.6 lbs so far and am now down to my second mini-goal. The next mini-goal is 168. That was my pre-pregnancy weight with Miss Priss, and I haven't been that low since. The next mini-goal is to be 165.2. That will mean that I have lost 10% of my body weight. And then from there, it will be to get to 160. I can't remember when I was last 160. At least 4 or 4 1/2 years. This actually gets easier as it goes along.

Miss Priss is looking forward to moving. We have told her that she can go back to school a couple of days a week once we move, so now she keeps saying, "I want to go to school. I want to make new friends." My social little child. I know that pre-school will be so good for her. And now we don't have that whole potty-training issue holding us up (most pre-schools require them to be potty-trained coming in).

Baby Boo has decided that she wants our food. Two nights ago, we had fajitas. We were eating in the living room since our kitchen table was covered in laundry, so I sat my plate on the floor about 4 feet away from Baby Boo to go get a drink. Then I heard, "Honey, is Baby Boo supposed to be eating your fajita?"
She had rolled over to my plate, unrolled the tortilla, and had her grubby little hands all over my food. Last night, she did the same thing with my sandwich. I think she likes to feel the different textures.

Ew, gross.....

I saw the grossest (is that a word?) thing that I can remember last night. I'm actually a little hesitant to write about it since it was in my house. So, if you're not in the mood for a "EWWWWWWWW, THAT IS SO NASTY!" read this morning, quit reading now.

Still reading? I warned you. Okay, for about 3 days now, the flies in my house have been really bad. Particularly in the kitchen. I went on a major cleaning spree (moving appliances to clean underneath) as well as super cleaning all my cabinets. I could not find the source of the flies. I found it last night.

I went to get laundry out of the dryer (my laundry room is attached to my kitchen), and saw the source. My cats live in the laundry room most of the time and have opened up the door to the crawlspace in the attic. They love to play up there, so we haven't bothered to close it back up. They had dragged a "present" down from the attic. About 3 or 4 weeks ago, we put down rat poison. We have lots of mice (that's what we get for living in the country), so we put it in a few select cabinets that Miss Priss cannot get into. Suddenly, we didn't have a rat problem anymore.

Last night in the middle of my laundry room floor was a dead mouse. And it was moving. Now, I'm not a girly girl who will run from things -- I'm not afraid of snakes, mice, bugs, spiders, etc. In fact, I'm the designated eliminator of all of the above. However, last night I ran from my laundry room practically screeching at my husband, "I found out where all of the flies are coming from! EW! EW! EWWWWWW!"

Hubby promptly took care of said mouse and the maggots that were causing it to move. Ew. Ew. Ew. It still makes my skin crawl. But, there are not as many flies this morning in my kitchen.

So, now that you've been sufficiently grossed out, have a great day!

Reflection

Amanda asked me how I felt about this entire change of plans situation. Honestly, I am a little relieved. I hate to admit it, but there was a part of me that felt I was getting my hopes up for nothing and that there was no way that everything was going to come together right. I guess it was a gut feeling. I thought it was going to be daycare that wouldn't work out. Instead, it's some issues within our family that I don't really want to go into in such a public forum. If your curiousity is piqued, email me. I'll tell you what's going on. Anyway, it's been a very long week.

And since I'm a stress eater, I've gained almost half a pound. Actually, I'm quite proud of that. We made a visit to Hubby's parents' house, so that meant days of fast food and overeating. The fast food isn't really my fault. Because we live so far from civilization in a small town, there aren't many fast food options. So, when we go to "the big city," we tend to overindulge. What can I say? I love Chick-fil-A. So, the fact that I didn't gain back all the weight I've lost is quite an accomplishment.

Change of plans.....

A lot has been going on at my house this past week. It looks now like we'll be moving in the next few weeks. Hubby's job is not going well, so he will probably go back to school while I get a job. I guess we'll see how it goes.

Lots of Good News....

Well, I have officially met my first "big" mini-goal: lose 10 lbs. This morning's weigh-in revealed almost 3 lbs in one week. (And, of course, we won't discuss the fact that it's been incredibly hot and most of that is probably dehydration, ahem). I'm now at 171.6 lbs, only 1.6 lbs from my second mini-goal of being less than 170 lbs.

And, my test this morning went really well. I scored 95% in math (it always was one of my strongest subjects) and 82% in reading (I thought I would do better than that, but I'll take it).

Sorry I went MIA

I've been cleaning house since my mother-in-law arrives today. My entrance exam is tomorrow. I've got my fingers crossed!

Poor baby.....

Miss Priss just came to tell me that Baby Boo was awake and needed to "eat from your tummy." I guess that's what breastfeeding looks like to a 2 year old. I was a little surprised that I hadn't even heard her fussing in the other room. Baby Boo, you see, wakes up hungry. And, when she's hungry, she's mad. Very mad. Baby Boo usually doesn't wake up in a good mood, but she's very happy and cuddly after she's eaten.

Anyway, I went to check on her, and she was sleeping in her swing as usual. I looked at Miss Priss who told me that Baby Boo needed to wake up so that Miss Priss could read to her. When we last visited my in-laws, both Miss Priss and Baby Boo got new books. Baby Boo's book is a touch and feel book, and Miss Priss loves to read it to her (which consists of Miss Priss telling Baby Boo what the animal is before grabbing her arm and forcing her to feel the fur of the animal). Needless to say, Baby Boo is still happily swinging until she decides to wake up on her own. I assured Miss Priss that she can read to Baby Boo later.

I'm Still Reading....

everyone's blogs. However, I haven't been able to comment as much as I would like to since my computer is being a pain in the a$$. I'm never sure what I'm going to get when I hit, "Post a Comment." Sometimes, the next page comes right up, no problem. Sometimes it comes up pretty quickly, but with a cute little red x in the word verification box. And sometimes it never comes up. Ugh!

For some reason, the past few days, my internet connection has been exceptionally slow which forces me to spend an inordinate amount of time playing Spider Solitaire waiting for pages to load. I have discovered that I am dependent on the "hint" feature. I make all the moves that I see, but I can't deal another row of cards without hitting the letter M (the shortcut for "show available moves") to make sure that I haven't missed any possible moves. I decided yesterday that I was probably using it a little too much, so I tried to stop. It's almost impossible to deal a new row of cards with out checking. I have to "cheat" at solitaire. How wrong is that?!

I forgot to add....

I lost another pound! I'm now 174.4 I'm so excited to cross the 175 threshold. I'm hoping next week to cross my next milestone (173.6) -- at that point, I'll have lost 10 pounds. I'd like to be able to see the difference a little more -- I still seem to carry all the extra weight right in front as if I'm pregnant. I want the belly gone! So, I continue on. First goal, lose 10 lbs, should (fingers crossed) be accomplished next week, and the next goal is to be under 170. I'm actually starting to believe that I can do this. Yay!

Wish Me Luck

Well, I've made an appointment to take the nursing entrance test again (we were out of town, so I missed my original appointment). I'm taking it next Thursday. My mother-in-law is coming to stay with us for a few days, so I don't have to worry about the girls while I'm gone (Hubby's working that day). I hope I do well. It's been a while since I've taken anything close to a standardized test (or any test that isn't on the back of a cereal box for that matter). However, I have always been a good test taker, so I've got high hopes that I'll do well. I'm off to find practice study questions (and hopefully not have to pay for them!). :)

Wow.

In the past couple of weeks, Miss Priss has practically potty trained herself. It was like, all of a sudden, the lightbulb went on and she got it. I guess my half-assed potty training attempt worked in that I procrastinated so much that she just suddenly "got it." Good, I'll do the same thing with Baby Boo.

So as not to jinx myself, I will not talk about how long it has been since she had an accident. I'm even thinking of sending her to bed with panties on since she wakes up dry, but I can't do it yet. I don't want to waste the diapers I have left, and why clean up messy sheets if I don't have to. I'm all about the laziness factor.

We have to drive about 45 minutes or so to get groceries every week, and she gets mad if she needs to go in the car. She will start yelling, "I NEED TO POOP!!!! ON.MY.POTTY!!!!" Well, we're not going to stop the car on a two lane road so just go in your diaper. This does not look good for our 13 hour car ride this summer. She's going to want to stop and go to the bathroom a lot. And we're not stopping kind of people. We stop for gas and that's it. You go to the bathroom when you stop for gas. With two young children, we'll see how many stops need to be made.

I'm So Tired!

Why will Miss Priss not sleep? WHY!?!?!?!? I need to go find something to make for dinner. Any ideas? What do you like to do for dinner? I'm open to all suggestions.

Happy Mother's Day (Or Something Like That)

A rundown of my mother's day thus far:

12:04 -- Hubby arrived home from his poker game (didn't lose any money -- always good).
12:05 -- Hubby told me that he has to work this morning from 6am to noon. So much for sleeping in.
1:00 -- After talking with Hubby for a while and fighting insomnia, I fell asleep.
2:00 -- Miss Priss woke up crying (she wakes up every night, but there's usually not crying involved).
2:30 -- Trying not to lose patience with Miss Priss (since she did have a bad dream and is scared to go back to sleep), I got her some milk and returned to my bed since my being in her room seemed to be keeping her awake.
3:00 -- After lying awake listening for Miss Priss to fall asleep (she tends to thrash around a lot as she's falling asleep -- our room shares a wall with hers, so I hear her constantly hitting the wall), I went and checked on her. She was almost asleep.
3:15 -- I checked on Miss Priss again, and she was sleeping soundly.
3:30 -- Fell back asleep.
5:00 -- Hubby's alarm went off.
5:01 -- Fell back asleep.
5:55 -- Hubby left for work. I got up to lock the door and heard the dogs claws on the kitchen floor. That can only mean one thing.
5:56 -- I discovered that the damn dog had gotten into the trash and spread it all over the kitchen floor. "Buddy, get your ass outside!"
5:57 -- Put the dog out and decided I would pick the trash up when I got up.
5:58 -- Returned to my bedroom to see Baby Boo smiling sweetly at me. Now, I love a good baby smile as much as the next person, but early in the morning when I just want to go back to sleep.....
6:00 -- Decided that I should feed Baby Boo and then, surely, she'd go back to sleep.
6:01 -- After picking Baby Boo up, I realized that she had left me a mother's day present in her diaper.
6:02 -- I tiptoed as quietly as possible through Miss Priss's bedroom to get a diaper (I really must remember to put some diapers in my room since Miss Priss is such a light sleeper).
6:03 -- I changed Baby Boo's nasty, smelly diaper. She smiled the entire time.
6:05 -- I started feeding Baby Boo. Instead of her eyes getting heavier as she ate, she paused several times to smile at me really big with milk dribbling out of her little mouth. Very adorble, but I soon realized that she had no intention of going back to sleep.
6:15 -- Baby Boo was done eating and was trying to sit up (basically doing a crunch -- damn I wish I had her abs!). I rolled her over, popped her dummy in, and cuddled her really close desperately hoping for those extra few minutes of sleep.
6:45 -- Woke up with a nice cuddly, awake, sneezing baby. She was being very still so as not to disturb me -- what a sweetie!
6:50 -- Miss Priss came in declaring, "I want some milk."
7:00 -- I finally got up to get Miss Priss some milk (I'm quick like that). She quickly stated, "Awww, Mommy, what happened?!" I told her that the dog had gotten into the trash and that I would pick it up.
7:05 -- After picking up the trash, I got her some milk. And some breakfast.
7: 15 -- I went back in to check on Baby Boo. Guess who had gone back to sleep. I watched her sleep for a few minutes. So cute.
7:20 -- I went in and watched an episode of Dora while Miss Priss and I ate breakfast.
7:45 -- I got online to go through my morning ritual of blog reading and message boards.

So that is my day so far. The rest better be someting like:
12:00 -- Hubby gets home.
12:05 -- I start my nap.
3:00 -- I wake up. No crying children would be a plus.
5:00 -- Hubby makes me whatever I want for dinner. Without my help.
6:30 -- Hubby does the dishes. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha -- that's a good one. I don't think he's done the dishes since we moved in.
7:00 -- I watch whatever movie I want to watch (which probably means that he doesn't want to watch it LOL)
9:00 -- I go to bed early. Hubby gets the girls ready for bed and in bed. All. by. himself.

So that's probably pretty unrealistic, but Hubby did say before he left this morning that he owed me a day as a mother's day. Oh, he owes me alright........

I hate teething....

and Baby Boo's been doing it for about a month and a half now. Miss Priss got her first tooth at 4 months. She wasn't fussy or anything; it just suddenly appeared. Same with the rest of her teeth (and she had a mouthful by age 1). Baby Boo, on the other hand, is having a really hard time with the little teeth coming in. She just cries and whines and sucks so hard on her hands that it leaves marks (think: hickey). Poor little thing. It keeps her from sleeping good, and a lot of times when I know she's tired and needs a nap, I rub a little oragel on her gums and....ta-da....she falls right to sleep. I hope these little teeth poke through soon!

Very Surprised.....

My husband told me the other day as we're eating dinner, "Miss Priss and I had an idea for a Mother's Day present, but you'll have to pick it out." I am automatically surprised because, well, I didn't think my husband even realized that Sunday is Mother's Day. I'm also surprised that he thought about giving me a gift (we usually don't do anything at all -- not even a card -- for Hallmark Holidays).

So, I ask what the idea was.

"We thought since you like to work with pictures so much [my photo albums are always as up to date as I have pictures printed], that you would like a locket."

I was floored. I'd never even thought of getting a locket (I'm not a big jewelry wearer), but once he said it, I thought how cool it would be to have. How very thoughtful and considerate. So, now I get to go online and look for one that I would like. I'm so excited. I'll have a hard time matching that for Father's Day.

Woohoo!

This morning's weigh in went well. I'm now down to 175.6. That is very exciting for me since I can't remeber the last time that I weighed so "little." I've also begun to identify some of the things that contribute to my weight gain, so hopefully I can learn to control them and work around them.

1. I can't leave food on my plate. I, unfortunately, can't blame my parents (it would be so convenient if I could). They never gave lectures about starving kids in Africa or anything like that. I can only blame myself. I can't leave food on my plate because it seems so wasteful. Not necessarily foodwise, but moneywise. What a waste of money not to finish the meal completely.

2. I need to learn to control my portions. I know they are way, way, way too big, but I don't want to have to go and get seconds. That just seems like I'm eating too much. Therefore, I put enough for first and second helpings on my plate the first time. Realistically, if I just put one true portion on my plate, I would probably eat that and be full and never get anymore food after that. But, then I would have all the wasted food still in the pots.....which brings me to.....

3. I don't need to cook like I'm feeding a family of 6. There are 2 adults and one child (who eats like a bird) in my family.

4. My other problem is that I have to have something to do with my hands. I can't watch TV or play on the computer without something else going on. I've learned that coloring with my daughter or doing my nails or toenails helps give me something to do other than eat (and it keeps my nails looking great!). On the computer, since I have dial-up, while waiting for pages to load, I open Spider Solitaire and play it. It's working pretty well so far.

So, the goals for this week are:
1. Smaller portions. I don't think I can cut them in half or anything, but maybe only 2/3 of what I would normally eat.

2. No snacking unless I'm truly hungry, not just bored.

3. Work out some sort of exercise plan. I got a couple of new exercise videos -- a core pilates and an abs, buns, and thighs video. It would be helpful if I would actually do the workout. And I've got to start some sort of aerobic workout. Maybe I can get Hubby to watch the girls for a while during the evening so I can go run (well, as close to running as I can do right now).

As it is, my stomach seems to be shrinking, so I feel full faster. I'm trying really hard to actually listen to it. :)

How Much of a Nerd.....

am I to get my reality TV from PBS? I avidly watched Texas Ranch House (after recording all of them this past week -- I don't want to have to wait for the next one to come on). Yes, I am a nerd.

The premise of the show is to take 15 people and send them back through time to 1867 to live on a ranch. There was the ranch family, The Cookes (dad, mom, 3 teenage daughters -- how did they get the daughters to agree to this?), the servant girl, and a bunch of cowboys.

Very interesting show. I wonder how their editing decisions made an impact on how it looked for the family. In the beginning, I felt a little sorry for the family because there were some scenes where the ranch hands were a little less than helpful when they could have been. But, in the end, I had very little respect for the ranch family. The kicker for me was the dishes. Before the ranch hands left for the cattle drive, the ranch hosted a big party. Eight days later (while sitting around in their underwear), they were complaining about the horrendous fly problem and blaming it on the horse manure that was "right outside the door." I would have no problem with this (and agree it was manure) if they had actually done the dishes! Eight days with nasty, dirty dishes and rotting food. Hello! Where do you think the fly problem came from?

Okay, rant over.

Baby Boo can now roll from back to front. She discovered this last night and quickly repeated it over and over quickly discovering that she can roll over and over and actually get somewhere. Uh-oh. I'm in trouble now.

Miss Priss had a total meltdown last night when she pooped in her panties. That was the first time that she had done that, and I heard her running with tears streaming down her face from her room where she had been quietly playing. She was very upset and wouldn't calm down until I assured her that it was no big deal and that we could wash her panties.

And today is our anniversary. I probably ought to do something really nice for dinner, right? Any suggestions for a cooking challenged woman with a picky (as in no vegetables) husband?

Thunderstorm.....

We had a big thunderstorm last night. On the one hand, I hate thunderstorms because I live in the southern part of Tornado Alley, and I don't particularly like my car getting hailed on, but, on the other hand, I love a big thunderstorm (minus the hail and tornado). So, last night, around 7:00, it started raining. I tuned into the local news to see that the worst was yet to come. So, as we were going to sleep, we opened up the curtains so that we could watch the lightning. It is so beautiful. We have a security light outside our house, and at one point the lightning was so bright and so frequent that the light turned off because it's sensor assumed the sun had come up. There's nothing like falling asleep to a good thunderstorm.