I have decided to keep track of things that make me cry lately. They are such ridiculous things too. Today it was an OnStar commercial about a car that swerves to avoid hitting a deer and gets in an accident. No kids were involved that I could see. The was the second time today after the book incident from last post.
A while back we discovered this Dr. Seuss gem, On Beyond Zebra. Ronni had sent us a bunch of books that belonged to Mike as a kid. This was among them and I had actually never read it before. We fell in love on first read. The copy we had, being so old, was falling apart. I bought it new from Amazon and it arrived today. We have already read it twice and loved it even more each time. Dr. Seuss is such a master of rhyme and rhythm. There is NEVER a hitch in the meter, it flows so easily out loud. I LOVE that Leah is exposed to so many unusual rhymes. It came close to beating out The Sneetches for my favorite, but I love the lesson in that one too much. :) SO just a heads up for a good read.
On another book note, I brought the book Perfect by Judith McNaught with me to Leah's ballet class to read in between peeking in the door. I only got through the first 40 pages and I was BAWLING. The story begins with a heart-warming tale of a child whose life turns around by being adopted into a good family. Things centering around children affect me so much more now. So I am sure all the ladies in the hall thought I was a nut. I was sniffling and wiping my eyes and nose for like 10 minutes. I hope I can show my face there again. :)
They are linking diet more and more to the diagnosis of ADD. (I am not saying that diet is a CAUSE of ADD or can cure it, I'm just saying it is probably linked.) Dr. Fuhrman has done a case study and reversed the diagnosis of 90% of his test subjects by changes in diet alone. here are the guidelines he followed:
* a high nutrient primarily vegetable-fruit-nut diet
* 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed daily (source of Omega-3 acid which reduces/prevents inflammation)
* 1/2 oz of walnuts daily (also a source of Omega-3's)
* additional 100-600mg of DHA daily (flaxseed oil)
I still don't really know much about flax though. I would have to research it more.
Did you notice that the diet did not contain meat/dairy? The speaker (a registered dietitian) said her family rarely eats meat OR dairy. Someone asked how kids get enough calcium. She claimed that there are lots of vegetarian sources of calcium like: beans, dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds, etc. Also almost 50% of the calcium from these sources is absorbed into the body, unlike the 20% from animal protein sources. Another fact about animal proteins is that they raise the acidity of the blood. Calcium is what your body uses to counteract that, taking from your bones if need be. If dairy were the answer to brittle bones, she said, why are humans breaking their hips in record numbers despite the increase in dairy products consumed in recent years? Interesting info...
One last thing before I leave you. One of the ingredients in the Dannon Frusion smoothie is carmine. Check this out before you eat any more colored yogurt.
I attended a Nutrition Seminar tonight at the gym. I learned A LOT of interesting facts, many of which I will share with you over the next week or so. I am ready for bed tonight though. So I will leave you with the poll on the right as food for thought. Don't cheat and look it up!
I just made "trail mix" using raisins, cashews, and Honey Nut Chex for Leah (Erin ate raisins I cut in half and the cereal). I ate Craisins, almonds, and the cereal. It was so good! It was pretty filling and while not low-calorie, it could probably be substituted in place of a Slim Fast meal replacement bar as breakfast. So give it a try!
I cannot wear my engagement ring anymore. I am so sad about it. It is not due to weight loss (I wish). It is because I think I am allergic to it all of the sudden. Every time I put it on I get this big ole rash on my ring finger that wakes me up at night. Once I take it off, it takes a week or so for the rash to go away. I have tried cleaning it well in case it was a chemical on the ring that was irritating me, but it didn't help. I can still wear my wedding band, thank goodness. But it sucks.
On another note Erin pooped in the potty today! She was looking like she had to go during dinner, so Mike took her and sat her on the Dora potty ring on the big potty. She cried a bit because it was hard for her to go, but I think sitting on the potty actually helped with gravity and no diaper and all. And then there it was! How cool is that? No wonder I want another baby! My baby is not a baby anymore. :)
I feel like I have finally hit that dreaded plateau. After 6 weeks and diet and exercise and a 10 lb loss, I have been back and forth between the same two pounds for two weeks. I am starting to think that, like Keri, I may be slightly starving myself. I am limiting myself to 1200 calories a day, even when I run a 5K. The websites I have been to say that my body needs approximately 2000-2300 calories on a daily basis to maintain my weight with an active lifestyle. So accordingly, I should operate on a 500 calorie loss. That leaves me with at least 1500 calories a day, you follow? So I am possibly shorting myself by 300 calories. I wanted to eat less calories than I thought because I am sure I underestimate my food when I count the calories. I rarely actually measure stuff. But even so, do you think that could be it? This past week, I have run almost 12.5 miles, swam, and worked my abs. What do you guys think?
AND you like those teenage melodramas like Dawson's Creeek and 90210 (I am talking to you, Rhi!), you may like this series, The Vampire Diaries. Here are the first two and here are the second two. (My Franklin girls, you know what I am talking about.) The author's website has a brief synopsis of each book. They are very good. I know I first enjoyed them in high school but c'mon, you know the Twilight series is loved by teens everywhere. If you liked Twilight, you may as well give these a try. I own all four. If you are interested in borrowing them, let me know.
PS I just read on the author's website that a FIFTH book in The Vampire Diaries series is coming out Feb 2009! The series originally came out in 1991. Talk about delayed reaction. I guess she is trying to cash in on the love for vampire stories right now. Whatever the reason, I will be buying it!
I may not have come across exactly how I wanted to in the last post. I feel like all of our parents and siblings are capable of caring for our girls and will love them to the end. I was not saying that any one of them was not able to do it. I just wanted to look at all the angles. Making those kinds of judgements is hard. Ultimately I think being with family is the most important. I am sorry if I insinuated that I do not think my siblings are willing and able to be a parent to their nieces. I know better than that. You are all wonderful and I have no doubt that you would take them in a heartbeat.
Mike and I have an appt Wednesday to see a lawyer about our wills. The most pressing issue of course is guardianship for the kids. We are in a dilemma. All of our parents, while we love them dearly, will be at least 75 when our kids are able to be on their own, especially if we have any more. I just don't think raising kids at that age is a burden we need to put on them. Plus you never know when a health issue will arise. So we are thinking they should not be our first choice.
Stacy is the only one of our siblings who is at a place to even raise children. So she is one choice. Mike's godparents are friends of their family. So he was asking about considering our friends too. It's just a lot to ask people who are not blood-related to raise your children and still have your kids connected to their family. (BTW, I'm not asking for volunteers to raise our kids.)
Anyway, I just wanted to put it out there. If any of you have made these kinds of decisions, how did you decide? What were the factors that influenced your decision?
I know this is kind of a "Duh" statement, but I can't imagine our life without Erin in it. Mike and I were talking tonight about how it is so strange that you have NO idea of the impact your little ones will have on you. It is so hard to believe that we could have decided to not have any more after Leah. Then we wouldn't have our little cuddlebug! And we both pretty much said that it makes us want to keep having kids, because it is such an amazing feeling to bond with a new life. Twenty years down the road, we will look back and say "I can't imagine our lives without ____, ____, and ____ in it." (or however many kids we end up having) No matter how many we have, every one of them will add to our lives something that we are currently lacking, yet we don't even know what it is yet. I am REALLY hoping to last until after our cruise next July before getting pregnant again, but I just don't know if I can wait that long. Not that I am so eager to relive the newborn days, but I am anxious to see what the next child will bring to our family. Erin has been SUCH a joy, I am ready to experience it again and again. Am I crazy to want another one so soon?
So get this. A few blog posts ago, I got a comment from someone in the Signing Time! organization. Because I had posted several times about how I love the series, they wanted to send me two new volumes of Baby Signing Time that are going to be coming out in October to review. We watched them today. Here is what I thought:
Both Baby Signing Time 3 & 4 were lots of fun. After every sign was introduced, my three year old, Leah, was making sure I was doing it correctly. I think our favorite song of the day was "That Tastes Good" introducing many foods such as apple and pear. We also really enjoyed the "Opposites" song. My one year old was actually attempting a few of the signs.
One thing I really like about these volumes is that all of the words are put into songs. Rachel isn't trying to sign every word of the song, just the ones they are focusing on. I think it helps the kids isolate the signs to learn them. My kids really like the cartoon parts with Alex, Leah, and Hopkins. Thank you so much for the opportunity to screen these videos. We love Signing Time! and want continue to learn as many signs as we can.
Since I have been tagged here and here, I guess I better get on this.
A) Four places that I go over and over: the gym, Walmart, Leah's school, Harris Teeter
B) Four people who e-mail me (regularly): nobody really emails me regularly just to check in, they usually have a question or a reason
C) Four of my favorite places to eat: Carrabba's, Maggiano's, Harper's, Taco Bell
D) Four places I would rather be right now: Disney World (we'll be there in about 3 weeks!), the beach, Hive reunion, on our cruise next July
E) Four people I think will respond: Keri, Mandi, Tiff, Nikki
F) Four TV shows I watch all the time: The Office (re-runs on Tuesday nights on TBS), Blue's Clues (unfortunately), Jon & Kate Plus 8, Dog Whisperer
PS Is anybody else PSYCHED for TV to come back in a week????
I have been SO good about not eating the pumpkin cream cheese bars and blue frosted sugar cookies T has sent over (congrats, T & B!). They have been on my counter/in my fridge tempting me for a few days now. But I was determined to do well in this weigh-in.
So instead, I dreamed (drempt?) of dessert. I was standing on underneath a ramp watching all of these chefs carrying platters over my head. There were things like a giant chocolate cake (5ft in diameter!) and tiny petit fours piled high. You think I was craving something?
So as a reward for all that, I had a good weigh-in today. I am 9.4 lbs down in the competition and am only 2.8 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight. I am so happy I did this with everyone. It has certainly served as a motivator.
I think Mike and I ate some bad jelly in our fridge. On Friday when said jelly was eaten, we both came down with a "stomach bug" within hours of each other. Last night/this morning were rough, and we are now recovering. We SOOO wished that we had a grandparent here to pawn our kids off on. These are some of the moments that parenting gets really tough. I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel...
On Wednesday evening, we were waiting on the porch for Mike to come home. Leah was pulling a few weeds in the garden when all of a sudden she shouted that her hand was hurting. I looked and it was the tiniest scrape, no blood even. So we patched her up.
The next day she told me it was hurting again. She claimed the scrape was from a "mean girl" at school. She told me this whole elaborate thing about how the girl wanted Leah to "be in her family" but Leah didn't want to so the girl scraped Leah with her fingernail. I asked her if she told the teacher and she said yes and the girl got sent to time out.
The whole story sounded suspicious to me, so I asked her teachers about it today. Both of them said they had never heard a thing about this incident. So I will have to talk to Leah about it later today.
I wonder though, because a couple of days ago, Ian came home telling us about a "mean boy" on the playground who was bullying him. So did Leah feel the need to have her very own mean kid story? Or are the kids at this school pretty pesty?
I am inclined to believe that Leah has told me her first fib. I hope this is not how things are going from here on out. I enjoy having Leah tell me straight out that she hit Erin, so I can put her into time out based on her own word. :) But I guess they all figure that out sooner or later.
Update: Leah and I discussed things later and she did finally admit to me that she made the story up. I told her it's okay to tell me interesting stories as long as she says, "Mama, I'm just teasing," if it's not a true story. I think she kinda gets it.
So yesterday morning, Leah got up and was in the bathroom with Mike while he got ready for work. I didn't hear the whole conversation, but I assume she asked why he had to go to work. He answered that he had to make money so that we could pay for our house. And my darling girl said, "I have lots of money in my piggy bank. I can pay for our house." I teared up, it was such a sweet thing to say. Mike told her that she had a LONG time before she had to worry about money. I love that kid!
I took Erin to a preview Gymboree class today. I never got around to taking Leah so didn't really know what to expect. It was lots of fun. She got to climb and sing and slide and hide and catch bubbles and play with about 10 other kids her age. I wish it was not so far away. AND was less expensive. With Leah's preschool and ballet, we can't afford Gymboree too. I hate the idea that Erin is getting shafted, but I guess Leah was not doing things at Erin's age either. Next fall Erin will probably start a part-time preschool, unless I go back to work.
Well, that's it for tonight.
I know a lot of people use RSS feeds to read blogs, so I wanted to let you know that I posted video of Erin walking on my entry Blood rushes to the head. Check it out!
Can't trust that day...
Actually today went rather well. I went to my post-op appt and the dr said everything looked good. No dry socket for me. I guess I had some food caught in there and it was pressing directly on my nerve. But I haven't felt severe pain since yesterday morning. So yay for that...
Leah, Ian, and Erin ate PB & J sushi for lunch. I stole the idea from my friend Liz but her blog is private so I can't link you to her. But you just cut the crust off the bread, roll it flat, and spread PB & J on it all the way to the edges. The you roll it up and slice it gently. When you turn it on its side, it looks JUST like sushi. They all LOVED it. So, thanks, Liz, for sharing...
I was able to do a step class today without any pain, so my exercise schedule should be back to normal this week. Hopefully I will start dropping lbs again since I can eat fairly normally.
As you probably saw in my sidebar, I got a Wii Fit yesterday! My Wii Fit age already went from a 37 to a 30 in just one day. Mike and I really like the hula hoop game. I of course also like the yoga poses. I am excited to unlock new stuff too.
Well, that's about it. My dad finally has power back in Houma and things are settling down there too. Thank goodness Ike has turned away from FL and LA. Sorry, TX, I guess you were due.
Last night while running my 5K (go me!) on the treadmill, I was experiencing pretty intense pain in my mouth. We were talking about it later and started thinking that blood rushes to injuries and while my blood was pumping so hard it must have been pooling in my wounds. It was pretty intense and everyone is telling me not to do cardio until I go to my post-op appt. That sucks! But I guess I will listen.
Update: I am pretty sure I have dry socket, where the blood clot becomes dislodged and your nerves are exposed. Lovely.
Update2: I called my dr this AM because I was hurting SO bad. He said that if I had dry socket, even my heavy duty painkiller wouldn't touch it. So I probably didn't have it.
Erin took a few steps today! She is still nervous and doesn't like to let go, but if you get her going and gradually peel her hands from yours, she sometimes is on a roll. More often than not, she lowers herself down and crawls.
teeth that is. For most of the first week, my right side was bothering me and my left seemed almost healed. But for some reason, now my left is hurting WAY more than my right did. I even had to take the heavy duty painkiller last night for the first time since Monday. My entire right jaw felt swollen and achy all the way up to my head. I even had to use an ice pack (frozen peas) to alleviate some of the pain before the meds kicked in. I called the dr yesterday and the nurse gave me the impression that this was all "normal" and they would check it all out at my post-op appt on Monday. I hope I can get through the weekend.
On a TMI note, in the middle of the night I have been waking up to bits of food finally becoming dislodged from those spaces and running around my mouth. Food in your mouth after it had been hanging around a while digesting is NASTY! It has made me rethink my diet, which will go back to as many liquid-like substances as I can stand until my appt Monday.
On a happier note, Erin finally said Mama today (the stinker) after a week of saying the following: Dada, Ee-ah, Mimi, PawPaw, baby, and ball. We all knew she could do it, it was just her stubborn nature not to say the one thing we were all working on with her. I have my work cut out for me with that one.
She also had her 1 yr check up today (I am writing this at 4am, so it was actually yesterday. Leah woke up needing to potty and with her arm asleep so she was crying.). Erin's stats were: 22lb 2oz and 28 3/4 in long. That is a full inch taller and 2 1/2 lbs heavier than Leah was at this age. In fact Leah was 23 lbs at 18 months! So Er-bear is quite the bruiser. Maybe it's because we call her bear? :) She has another tooth popping through on the right side of her tops. The dr also said she could feel the molars on Erin's left side so they are getting close too. I am rapidly losing my baby here. Help!
Tropical Storm Hanna is currently upon us. It is raining and we are under a flash flood watch until noon. But Hanna is expected to be in VA by 8pm Sat night. So don't you worry about us. Stop on by if you feel the urge.
Here at Casa Gallers, we accommodate friends and family from all states, we don't discriminate. So make your plans for Hurricane Ike accordingly and know that our shelter is ALWAYS open. :)
Picked up her one year portraits today. Had to reorder two sheets because they cropped the picture wrong and part of it was cut off. But here are the other ones I bought...
Mike says this last picture makes her look like a troll. I think it's cute because it is a picture of her "scrunchie" face she does for us. So whatever.:)
Today we went back to The Penguin for lunch. (Mandi) There was NO wait and we had so many leftovers we already have lunch again tomorrow. I LOVE those fried pickles! Okay, so not so diet-y today. Need to get back with it tomorrow. It is SO hard with my dad in town!
My dad & Myrn are on their way to our house. There is no power where they are and they aren't allowed to go back home til the weekend. What better excuse than to come visit the grandbabies! Although I am exceedingly sad about the whole mess, I am thrilled that they are coming.
My poor aunt had lost her house in Katrina. She stayed with a friend for a month or two, then got a FEMA trailer. She has been in the trailer since then. She just moved into her brand new house last week after 3 years. Of course she had to evacuate on Sunday along with her little teacup yorkie. She got this dog around Katrina time too. Well, while she was at her friend's house during Gustav, her 3 yr old dog dies in her lap. How freaking unbelievable is that??? This woman can't catch a break. And they are not allowed to go home yet, but presumably there is maybe only minor damage like missing shingles or other such things. I hope things start looking up for her soon. I love you, Nana Zee!
Well, not so tight, but busy, which makes me happy.
Monday:
Leah - school 9-12
Angelle - step 4:30-5:30
Tuesday
Leah - ballet 10-10:45
Leah - swim lessons 4:30-5
Wednesday
Leah - school 9-12
Angelle - Yogalates 6:30-7:30
Thursday
Angelle - Zumba 8:30-9:30
Leah - swim lessons 4:30-5
Friday
Leah - school 9-12
Angelle - step circuit 9:30-10:30
Saturday
Angelle - Pilates 8:30-9:30
During Leah's school, I make our appts. This Friday I have Erin's 1 yr check-up. Next week I have my surgery follow-up appt on Monday, Erin has a free Gymboree class on Wednesday, and I am babysitting T's kids while she goes for her BIG ultrasound on Friday. I like being busy, it keeps me out of my funks.
Overall, this weekend was a combination of painful, relaxing, and fun-filled. I did not take that many pain-killers after the first day. I was mostly just sore and sometimes chewing would hurt. But otherwise, I was able to eat a turkey and avocado sandwich today. Good times.
I got to read 2 books (see my Goodreads bar) and take naps almost everyday. Mike was so attentive. He was always checking in, trying to get me to eat something, making sure I was taking my meds. Seriously, best husband ever. Thanks honey!
We also went to the water park (I did not swim, just watched my kiddos and Mike), ate at Cici's (even me!), went shopping at Target, had a cook-out at the Maddexes, went to the US National Whitewater Center and rode bikes, and went to Matthews Alive (craft festival).
On a funny note, Erin will NOT say Mama. Every time I say Mama to her, she come back with either Dada or Eee-ah. I do not rate anymore. :) When Mike is within sight, forget it. I am old news. She is SUCH a daddy's girl. He of course loves it. Hey, it's fine with me, she will be asking for him to put her to bed soon.
