Wednesday, February 21, 2007

It's been awhile!

Although it's been almost 2 weeks since I've posted, that's not what I'm talking about. There just isn't much to post about when you are recovering from surgery. What I'm thinking is I realized it had been way too long between car washings on Monday.

After taking the kids to grammy's, I went to Target to buy diapers and formula, and then stopped by Dana's office to help him with some filing. It was a nice day so I went through a car wash on my way home (I may be recovering nicely, but I'm not ready for scrubbing). Of course, being a nice day and a holiday meant approximately 15 other people decided to do the same thing, at the same time. It was well worth the wait though, when I realized I didn't have to worry about filthy clothes if I accidentally rubbed up against my car. I picked the kids up and hurried home to get them changed before we had to be at the restaurant for my Mom's birthday. When Kaia went to get into the car, her eyes got very big. I heard her say "wow" and she began to circle the car while staring at it in awe. Finally she said, "Wow mom did you get a new car?"

Point taken, I need to keep it cleaner. You would think all the toys and garbage inside would give away the fact that it wasn't new. But last night when we got home she asked me "How do you like your new car mom?"

Thursday, February 8, 2007

New diet

Many of you may know that since Mo was born, I've become interested in health (and I admit at times obsessed). I joined SparkPeople in June and started counting calories, working out, and monitoring what kinds of food go into my body. This became even more important as my allergist put me on the anti-candida diet for 4 weeks. I didn't make it the whole 4 weeks, but it did help, and I've learned a lot about what my body needs.

For several nights I've realized that one of my biggest secrets to weightloss is... having kids! Now this may not work for everyone, but it's working for me. Most normal people fill their plate, sit down and enjoy their food. You know that I'm not normal. I fill my small plate with food. Tonight for example was a tuna sandwich on whole wheat bread, homemade french fries, and green beans that didn't fit on the plate because the sandwich took up so much room. Before I can eat, I serve Kaia her plate, and then put food on Mo's tray.

Here's the weight loss part: I sit down in front of the computer to eat. Take one bite of sandwich. Kaia calls out asking for a drink of pop. I go into the tv room and ask her if she'd like a glass of water or milk.

Milk. So I walk to the fridge pour milk, take it to her and go back to eat. Another bite. Mo begins to fuss. He's eaten his fry and chicken (no tuna for the little guy yet). So I go get him some cheese. I eat another bite of tuna, and manage 2 fries. Mo fusses. I go over to see the cheese is gone. Then I ask if he wants more. He looks at me. I suspect that is what he wants, but I want him to sign it. So I stand in front of the highchair bringing my hands together making the more sign. Mo do you want more (hands together)? More (move hands). Mo, More cheese? Mo doesn't sign, but thinks that my signing is hilarious. Probably the same way a dogs stupid trick will amuse us.

I finally grab a fairly big slice of cheese and begin crumbling it for him. I have quite a bit, so I go to check on Kaia, and give her a piece. I sit back down and have a few more bites and am able to finish before, Kaia needs more cheese. Mo is fussing. Kaia gets cheese, I pick up Mo and the bowl of green beans. I eat the beans one handed while sharing with Mo.

They say to eat slowly so you don't overeat. I'm not sure the gulping down counts as slow, but I do know that I was full after the long drawn out sandwich. So tonight at dinner I: had well portioned healthy food, got a workout between the kids, & managed to get in all the fiber I needed so I could earn a point on my New Mom Challenge at SparkPeople!! (yeah that's the obsessive part)

In case you were wondering, I'm not ignoring Dana in all of this. He is at his shop, working on quads with my cousin. He probably enjoyed his fast food all in one sitting!

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Loss... for baby Christian

It's SuperBowl Sunday, which would usually mean I'm wrapped up in who will win and who will lose. But today my mind is filled with the loss of a child. I learned today that my friend lost her son. He was stillborn at just 17 weeks. A baby that I prayed over before his conception is already back with the Lord.

I realize that I'm ever so blessed to have only conceived twice and be able to hold both those babies in my arms everyday. Today I hold them tighter and longer than usual. All I can do for my friend who is thousands of miles away is pray.

In an attempt to calm myself I tried to sing Casting Crowns Praise You in this Storm, but couldn't choke out the words. So after picking up my Message Bible, and finding a song list, I grabbed my Songs of Praise and sang Abide With Me. I sang it for myself, and I sang it for my friend and her husband, and I also sang it for all the other women I know who have lost children.

Today it's just a game. The Superbowl will have a winner and a loser, but none of it changes our lives. The loss of the innocent, even though I know he's with God, will impact so many lives.

Abide with me, fast falls the even tide. The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee: Help of the helpless O abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine thru the gloom and point me to the skies; Heav'ns morning breaks, and earths vain shadows flee; In life in death O Lord abide with me.

Friday, February 2, 2007

Accidents, toilets, and comforters

In our house these things all go together! Yesterday morning I received an interesting call from Dana. "Hello?" "Guess who peed on the bed." "Kaia?" "Yep!" We all know that this is one of those accidents that will happen during potty training.

What you don't know, unless your my mom who happens to have given us most of our bedding as a gift, is that we have a feather mattress cover. $100 to dry clean, $20 to have a laundromat wash and dry, or $5 and an hour of my time at the laundromat. The best part is that she didn't want to tell us and pulled our comforter onto the bed, so that it ended up in the pee too. Our comforter is faux leather. You can imagine the washing instructions for that. Dry clean ( I don't know the cost, and am not going to find out for fear of a heart attack!) or wash in cold water and hang dry. This is the part where I could die laughing if it weren't my comforter soaked in pee. Where in February am I going to hang a king sized comforter to dry? In the warm weather I can hang it over the railing on the back of our porch, and days later it is still damp. Last time I chose to alternate between low heat and fluff at the laundromat. Way too many quarters later, I took a damp comforter home to hang on the railing.

Last night we slept under some blankets that Dana has had for years. It wasn't comfortable for either of us. So today while at Target I picked up a comforter on clearance for $25. Now we have a back-up comforter for the next time there is an accident (hopefully that's when Mo is being potty trained!).

The toilet does fit in to this. Kaia obviously didn't make it to the toilet in time, even though there are two nice working toilets to choose from. The old toilet that Dana removed 2 weekends ago is sitting outside next to our house. (and we wonder why some of the neighbors hate us!) No one on freecycle wanted our toilet! I even let them know it was cleaned with bleach water before removal, but still no takers. So now that it's been frozen, it isn't worthy to be a toilet anymore. So what do you do with a toilet? You can haul it to the dump and pay to throw it out for future generations to deal with, or paint and pot it! We are going to paint the toilet, fill it with dirt, and plant flowers in it! It's going in the backyard, no need to further aggravate anyone. Dana wants flames, I was thinking stone. Probably will depend on what paint is cheap at the craft store. Pictures to follow!