2 weeks ago something awful happened. I stayed home from work to be with sick kids. I was excited to get caught up on some laundry. I put in a load and took Caleb to school. When I got home there was water on the floor. And not just a little bit. It was everywhere.
So....my dinosaur washing machine decided to finally go ka-put huh? Darn. I soaked up almost every towel I had cleaning up that nasty mess. Because lets face it....who cleans under and behind their washing machine? Ick. The dust, the grime, the slime. It was disgusting. Please click HERE and refresh your memory about what that old thing looked like. Here's a picture:
Anyway. After it was all cleaned up I thought to myself, "It doesn't look so bad now." And I decided to be stupid and run it again and see if it was leaking water when it filled up, or when it drained. So I turn it on. Don't see any water. And walk away. 5 or 6 minutes later I came back and there was TWICE as much water on the floor. I shut off the machine. I still hear water trickling. I shut off the hoses. It's still going. I started to panic. What else can I do?! I'd called Parker at work so many times. He wasn't answering. It was Tuesday. He may not answer till he gets off. (Tuesday is his busy day). Dad. I called Dad. As I was on the phone with him, the water started to slow down, as I realized everything that had been poured into the machine had to make its way to the floor before it could stop. Dad told me that the old machine would be easy and inexpensive to fix. It didn't make me feel better. I didn't want to fix it. I wanted a new one. Look at it! It has wood paneling!
I cleaned up the mess AGAIN and when Parker got home we went to Lowe's. We had to make a decision on getting a used machine off Craigslist, getting a cheap-o (maybe something with a dent or something) from the store....or just getting a whole new set. My dryer was also not my favorite. Yes it worked.
But the heat sensor always left the clothes damp. And often it would error out and shut itself off when it got too hot. I was always having to add time to the loads to make sure they were dry.
So even though we were NOT in a position to buy a new washer and dryer....I got myself a Lowe's card and the next day they delivered these two babies....
We'll pay them off with our tax return. Meanwhile they hauled off the washer and I sold the dryer on craigslist for 60 bucks. We finally sold Parker's old Blackberry phone for 100 bucks, and we're working on selling a set of golf clubs. The machines work amazing! And they're so quiet! My old dinosaur was such a loud machine. I could never hear anything that was going on in the house if that thing was running. Anyway. So here it is. Each machine can do a load in as little as 18 minutes. I can have something in and out of the wash in 35 minutes if I have to. They're so awesome! I'm a happy mamma. And apparently I won't be getting anything for my birthday or Christmas for the next several years. Hah. Just kidding...but probably not far off actually.
Well progress is slowing....but not stopping. I've lost 14 lbs since the new year. I've been told that as you get closer to your goal, the harder it is to lose. This morning I had my lowest weight ever.
148.2 lbs. I can't even tell you now excited I was to get below 150. I'm breaking more rules now. I steal a bite here or there of something sweet. But I've decided the important thing is that it's just a bite. I don't sit and eat a sleeve or oreos, or handfulls of chips or (my personal favorite) yogurt pretzels. Just one or two, then I stop. I do eat bread....every couple days as long as it's whole wheat. And I've even had my ALL-TIME favorite: Papa Murphy's chicken, bacon, artichoke pizza twice.
It's so fabulous! I still always make sure I obey the rule of 1200 calories a day.
Things are going well and I'm still not ready to stop. I'll post before and after pictures once I reach my goal.
So remember all my personal drama when I was released from Young Women's? Incase you forgot. It's HERE if you'd like to read. Well yesterday I got my new calling. Bro. D. sat me down and told me that since being released from YW's there have been several organizations that have requested my name. I'm thinking to myself, "Oh! This is gonna be GOOD!" and they have decided to make me....
(drumroll please)
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Scout Comittee Chairperson.
I'm sorry WHAT? Scout Comittee Chairperson. I don't know anything about scouts! I don't even have a kid in scouts yet. Ok. That's where they want me? Ok. From what I gather....the job is a lot of paperwork and a meeting once a month. As well as some official signing-up and training through the scout office. Wow. I just, didn't see that one coming. I have a lot to learn. And I'm excited to get a new light on what scouts is all about.
This month has been crazy. Along with my new calling in scouts, I am plenty busy with work and kids. Lets start with an update on Caleb.
Let me start out by saying that this kid is gonna eat us out of the house. It gets kinda old actually. After every meal he says, "I'm still hungry." This morning for breakfast he had a homemade roll, a plate of strawberries, a go-gurt, a bowl of cereal, AND a banana! HOLY COW! We're not gonna be able to afford to feed him if he keeps this up! I've started telling him BEFORE each meal.....you'd better fill your belly because you're not getting anything else to eat after you're done.
As he grows older, he is becoming more and more helpful. We've developed a system of earning "screen time" which he can spend on the computer, playing the wii, or a game on my phone. He gets very excited to earn screen time and is eager to help in whatever way he can. I've had to inform him that he is not going to earn screen time for doing things he's supposed to do every day. Like getting dressed. Or picking up toys in the living room. Or doing homework. But he can earn screen time doing things like helping me unload the dishwasher, making his bed (yes I know this should also be an expected daily chore....but he's on the top bunk.....and it's just so much work), or vaccuuming.
Last Friday I had a pretty neat experience with Caleb. I went to eat lunch with him at school that day (which he always gets excited about....since I've only done it one other time). Earlier this week he'd earned a "kindness coin" on the playground. Duty teachers give these out to kids caught being good, and then on Friday at lunch they're allowed to trade them in for a prize. So he traded his kindness coin in for some silly cheap gold ring. He thought it was fabulous. And even though it was entirely too big for him, he had fun hiding it in a blob of flubber, and also doing magic tricks with it (like pulling it out of your ear even though it's totally obvious it's in his hand when he does it.....it's cute). Anyway. After school he ran down the road to the little park in our neighborhood and played there for a while. About an hour later he cam home in tears. "I lost my ring on the playground." I felt bad, but honestly......how can we possibly keep track of all the little things my children decide they're attached to?! I told him I was sorry, and I knew it was special because he'd earned it with a kindness coin. He continued to cry and would not calm down. I started to get frustrated with him. Ok. Calm down allready! Then he burst out, "But MOM! I PRAYED! I Prayed to find my ring and I just can't!"
Ok. Now this just got a little more complicated. A few weeks ago in Family Home Evening we'd talked about President Monson's story about his lost 5 dollar bill when he was a boy. Caleb LOVED this story and I knew that I was going to have to do everything I could to help him find that ring. If we could find it (in a playground full of rocks) it would build his faith so much. But we had a little snag. Garrett was sleeping. And it was too cold to take him outside. I told him to stop crying and I promised him we'd find a time to go look for his ring later today.
I went on with my Friday chores and scrubbed the bathrooms and rotated the laundry. All the while I kept thinking I needed to find a way to go out with him to find that rediculous little ring. Finally it came to me. Sister Allen lives about 5 houses down in our neighborhood. She has 2 teenage daughters. I decided to call and see if one of her girls could come over and hang out at the house with Angie and sleeping Garrett while Caleb and I went out to look for that ring. She sent both her daughters over and Caleb and I walked to the park. I informed him that we may not find it. I told him we should say another prayer once we got there. As we walked up to the park, Caleb picked out a spot next to 2 little trees and knelt down. I was about to kneel with him when 2 neighborhood kids walked into the park. He wasn't emberassed or ashamed. He was ready to go. But I pulled him up and said "Hang on, there's someone coming." I'm ashamed of myself now. I should've just knelt there with him and said a quick prayer. Oh well. The story ends good anyway. I asked him where he remembered having the ring. He told me and we started looking. One of the kids (a little girl) asked what we were doing, and I told her we were looking for his gold ring. She looked down, bent over and picked it up. "Is this it?"
Caleb was elated. We walked home and he was just so happy. We were gone for about 5 minutes is all. I paid the girls in cookies, and sent them back home. I then told Caleb that when Heavenly Father answers our prayers, we need to say another prayer and thank Him. Caleb knelt right there where we were standing on the hardwood floor and said a quick prayer of thanks.
What a lesson of faith this was to me. I hope it was for him too. He is only six, and in so many cases I think he has more faith than me. And he's not ashamed, and doesn't care what other people think. He just lives what he's taught. He's such an example to me.
Angie keeps me so busy. She tags along on my Friday trips to the grocery store, and for the most part, behaves quite well. She LOVES bagging the groceries at WinCo, and is actually getting pretty good at it. Today we had a little incident as I dropped her off at Nursery. Since she has a January birthday she was not able to join most of her friends in Sunbeams this year. So, she is a 3 year old in nursery for practically an entire year. Today as I dropped her off, she started to throw a fit. The nursery teachers tried to assure me that she'd be ok, and that I should just leave and she'll calm down. Well. That might've worked a year ago. But she's THREE. As I started to walk away she threw herself on the floor. Her teacher bent down to talk to her and she started kicking her feet and screaming. Oh no. This was not happening. I picked her up and took her out of the classroom. We went to a room with just the two of us and I told her to STOP crying. I explained to her that she is the biggest kid in Nursery and that it is NOT ok to throw tantrums and kick her teacher. I told her that there ARE babies in her class but SHE is not one of them. She stopped crying and started agreeing with me. I told her we were going back in there. I was going to give her a toy. And then a hug and a kiss. And then I was gonna leave. She wiped her tears and said Ok. I think it actually helped that I talked to her like a big kid and that she knew I expected her to act like one. She went into class, gave me a hug and let me go. Then I spoke to her teacher. I informed her that for the little kids, it's good to drop and run. But Angie is 3 and I will not tolerate behavior like that, and she knows it. I told her that she is too big for tantrums and she needs to suck it up when I drop her off.
Angie also loves to dress up. Every day she's handing me a dress or a swimsuit (or in many cases both) for her to put on. She loves being a princess.
And often when she's dressing up, the more layers she can have the better. Pictured above, she has a skirt, a vest, a headband, a bow, fairy wings and a tinker bell costume. Angie has also developed a bit of a Cinderella complex. I've mentioned before that she likes to sleep in her shoes. The picture below is not a very good one, but it shows her sleeping in her shoes. It's so cute.
A few weeks ago we spent the weekend at Parker's mom and dad's house because Katelyn and Jared came down from Washington to visit. The snow had recently fallen, and we decided to hook a sled up behind the 4-wheelers. I have to say, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I can't believe how much fun we had. Angie wasn't a fan....but Caleb sled and sled until his face was freezing. Here's a video I took of Caleb and Kate sledding.
Garrett is just such a big boy. He's so grabby! It's hard to pack him around because he just weighs so much! At his last well child check they told us he was in the 95th percentile for his height. 97th percentile for his head size, and 75th percentile for weight. Holy cow! He's huge! And as of yesterday, he can sit up by himself. He's not quite stable enough to be able to walk away from him....but he sat up for about 20 minutes straight without falling yesterday.
He's also decided that he loves food. Just a week ago, I felt like I was fighting him for every bite. He would seal his lips or turn his head, and I just could never get him to eat from a spoon. Something clicked and he loves it now. Here's the crazy part though.....he still drinks just as much from his bottle! You'd think after a jar full of baby food, he'd only drink half a bottle or something. No. This kid is a bottomless pit, and he loves to eat! I'm doomed. My boys are gonna make us go broke just to keep them fed.
Lastly I wanna give an update on Parker. He's been a sweetheart lately. He's been so kind and helpful lately, it just makes me so happy. Not that he wasn't before. I've just noticed it more lately I guess. A couple weeks ago he went to play basketball and came home with an ice-pack on his foot. He was limping. Actually limping is an understatement. He couldn't walk on his foot hardly at all. It was swollen and he honestly thought it was broken. I panicked for a couple seconds, and wondered if we should go to the emergency room. He said he would wait until morning. He slept on the couch with his foot above his head. The next morning he went in and got an x-ray. Then he went back to work. I was so surprised. I thought he should take the day off (I was convinced it was broken). But he decided since he has a desk job, that he could work just fine.
Turns out it wasn't broken. Just a terrible sprain. And it's so colorful! His entire foot was a nasty bruise, and it's still swollen today (2 weeks later). The following weekend he went to St. George to play golf in the "Dixie Cup." He said his foot hurt, but it was still worth it to go. He LOVES golfing in St. George, and he had a great time.
Not much changes for me. I work 4 days a week, and spend my days doing the things that all moms do. Way more cooking than I want, lots of laundry, and care for energetic, needy, but always so cute little children. Life is good.
I just thought I'd take a few minutes to let you know that this diet hasn't been such a walk in the park. Practicing self control is hard. And although my progress is extremely motivating (I've lost 10 pounds so far) and exciting at the same time.....I am really starting to want a cookie. Or two. Or ten. THIS however, is the reason I haven't had one. I know if I take one bite, I'll just want more....and then all of the sudden I've had more than I can count. No. I won't do that. I want a cheeseburger. I want PIZZA! Today everybody at the office went to Maxie's pizza. My FAVORITE place to eat out for lunch. My favorite pizza. I was SO close to going. But I didn't.
And yesterday we decided to welcome our new neighbors who just moved in. I made a batch of cookies and didn't eat a single one. I even had 100 calories to spare on my count for that day. I totally could have done it, and still have kept within the 1200calorie limit. But I didn't, because I knew I'd want another one. We gave half to the neighbors, and I asked Parker to take the other half to work. (Because incase you didn't know.....my chocolate chip cookies are awesome). I can't keep them in the house to tempt me every day.
I'm also down a pants size. It really is exciting. I can't wait to get to go shopping and get myself a new swimsuit, and wear a form-fitting shirt without worrying about a muffin-top.
I'm also doing some light exercise. I jump-rope till I can't breathe (usually just a minute or two) and then I go inside and do crunches and push-ups. Then I go BACK outside and jump-rope again till I can't breathe anymore. Then I do another set of crunches and push-ups. The whole thing takes barely 15 minutes. It's not the kind of exercise that the health professionals recommend. But it's something.
Every day is a battle. The progress is so exciting. Last weekend I wore a pair of pants that haven't fit in 4 years! It was so awesome! But I face decisions every day. And cravings. I satisfy my sweet-tooth with fruit smoothies (if I have enough calories to spare at the end of the day) and frozen bananas with cocoa powder.
I hope to lose at least 10 more pounds. So. No cookies. No cheeseburgers. No fun. But DANG I'm gonna feel good about myself when summer gets here!
January 15th, and my little girl is 3 years old. My how time flies. And thinking back to when we brought her home (click here if you'd like refresh those memories), it just blows me away that we have been in this house that long allready. And that she has grown so much. She is just about the age that Caleb was when we brought her home.
What can I tell you about Angie. She is the stress of my life, but also the joy of my life. She is extremely strong-willed, but then surprises us with her sweet kindness as well. Her most prized posession is her blanket. The red one with poka-dots is her favorite, even though she has 2 others as well. Most of the time she's trying to figure out a way to tote it along wherever she is going. We are constantly having arguments about how she can't take her blankie into the store, or to church. She'd rather be wrapped in that thing than her coat if she's cold. She likes to spread her blanket on the floor and play. This could be dancing on it, lying on it like a bed, or playing with her toys on it. When she's in a particularly good mood, she will sometimes offer to share her blankie with one of her brothers. This (in my opinion) is true love. This morning baby G was lying on my bed, and she climbed up there and covered him with her blanket. And this evening Caleb hurt his foot and was whining on the couch. Angie ran up to him and said, "It's gonna be ok Caleb. You want my blankie?" Other times, however, she won't share with anyone, and will throw a fit if you even TOUCH her blanket.
Angie loves having her nails painted, changing her shoes, and playing with her dishes and play-food. She has a very good imagination and asks her brother on a daily basis, "Can you be dad?" (She likes to pretend she's the daughter and Caleb is her father). Other times when I tell her to do something she'll say, "No....I'M the mom." And if I address her as "mom" she'll do as I say. Lately she's been putting her shoes on at bedtime. I always tell her to take them off, but every morning when I go to wake her up, I see that she managed to sneak out of bed and find her shoes and put them on her feet before falling asleep. As a result, she's had some really stinky feet lately.
Angie still does her "happy dance" (click HERE if you've never seen THAT before) when she is particularly excited. And although the video shows her dancing to music, she does not need it. Her CRAZY hair and I have a love-hate relationship. I love how unique it is and that it reflects her CRAZY personality. But I HATE that it's just so OUT OF CONTROL all the time. Her ponytails are starting to look pretty good, but it's still a wispy mess by the end of the day. Her bangs never seem to grow, but I am constantly having to trim around her neck and ears to keep it short. I am hoping one day if I cut it enough.....it might all be the same length.
Angie has a TERRIBLE sweet-tooth. I'm always catching her sneaking treats and candies. And chocolate chips.....OOOH THE AGONY! We have the SAME FIGHT every day. She asks for chocolate chips when she wakes up in the morning. And when I tell her no, she has a melt-down. Then when I pick her up after work, she asks for chocolate chips. I tell her no chocolate before dinner. MELTDOWN. And we go through it every day.
She has EXTREMELY dry skin. If I'm not really faithful about putting lotion all over her body after every bath, she scratches herself so bad that she bleeds. This is ALSO something we fight about. She HATES getting lotion after her bath. And we ALWAYS have to do it. She hates how it makes her cold, and then her skin burns after I've put it on. There are times when I feel like she is ALWAYS whining. And ALWAYS crying, and she just can't be made happy. Then there are days like today, where she just somehow happened to wake up on the RIGHT side of the bed for once, and she melts my heart with her cute, happy little self.
Angie's birthday always seems to get swept underneath the rug, because it's so close to Christmas. But we did celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa Lyons the weekend before her birthday. When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted...she replied, "Pink!" And when I asked her what present she wanted she said, "A PINK one!" So easy to please. She just loves pink. She's always pointing out pink things. "MOM! It's my fav-orit culler!"
She's a little-miss-sassy-pants at times, and yells and screams in public places sometimes. She likes to flirt with getting in trouble by saying naughty words like "butt" and "fart" (thank you Kaden and Perron Hansen) and her current favorite is to use made-up words that SOUND like naughty words. Her personal favorite, "Doodie." She uses this word to irritate her brother, and always uses it in a kind of sing-song voice. "Ca-leb doo-die" It doesn't matter how many times I've told her not to say it, she knows she can always get a reaction out of her brother if she says it.
She was so excited to turn 3. I just love this video of her opening her present. Her little excited giggle melts my heart. I just love it. And I love her. My girly-girl Angie. Happy birthday.
Well I'm trying to lose weight....AGAIN. In all fairness to myself, my previous attempts haven't been total failures, I always have done quite well when I decide to lose weight. Then I get pregnant. After that what's the point right? Well. I'm NOT pregnant. And I'm NOT breastfeeding anymore. And I've run out of excuses. So on the day after new years, I started my "diet. Incase you don't remember, and you don't feel like checking the archives for the last time I did this, Here's the low-down.
-No sugar....EVER.
Natural sugars from fruit ok. Added sugars are not.
-No bread.
I am making a TINY exception to this rule. I'm allowing myself 1 piece of bread as long as it's whole-wheat bread. But I still try to aviod it as best as I can.
- No white flour.
This pretty much is included in the no bread thing. But I also can't have soups or things that are thickened with white flour or cornstarch.
-No potatoes.
Yams are ok. But not potatoes.
- No pasta.
I also make an exception to this rule MAYBE once a week, and if I do, it's ALWAYS whole-grain pasta.
AND (HERE'S THE HARDEST PART)
1200 calories a day. You must count. And you must record.
8-10 glasses of water a day.
All other products (salad dressing, yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream etc) should be low-fat. This is not a RULE, but I'll tell you this. If you only get 1200 calories a day, you're not gonna want to waste 100 of those precious calories to your salad dressing. Going low-fat on these products makes it easier to fill your belly with FOOD instead of high-calorie extras.
I've found myself skipping out on things like putting butter on my toast (I'll use sugar-free jam instead. 60 calories vs. 10 in 1 tablespoon) and I avoid cheese a lot, because there's so many calories in just one ounce! Anyway. Today is day 12. I've lost 6 pounds so far. And I forgot to measure my waist so there's no quantifying there....except I can tell you that I allready feel smaller.
Things are going well, and I'm motivated and disciplined. This summer I want a new swimming suit. And it's my 10 year high school reunion, so I've got plenty of reasons to keep on going. I found an AMAZING app on my phone that is helping me SO MUCH! It's called "my Fitness Pal" and it counts the calories FOR ME. I did this diet last time just counting on a piece of paper. But my phone goes where I go. And the app helps me to know how many calories in each portion INSTANTLY. And It's been extremely helpful. I also record my weight on the app, and it graphs my progress and gives me a projected date for when I will hit my target weight. It's very exciting.
