WW:Update

Oh Weight Watchers.  How you and I started off so well together and well, I just fell off the bandwagon.

It must be known, I cancelled my online subscription the other day because I had no motivation to track anymore.  I was numbered out and the thought of trying to track that one bite of this or that just exhausted me.  I talked to a friend who is a long time WW gal, and she encouraged me to stick with it especially since I'm less than 10 lbs away from my goal weight.  But, I'm also a tightwad and I can't imagine paying for something that I'm really not using.  Plus, I tend to not care much about goals...which is why I don't set them often.

My new strategy - still eat right without the limitations of tracking, work out 2 times a week (when sickness and school breaks and other things don't get in my way) and still try to lose that weight.  So far, I've done better when I wasn't tracking and limiting myself!

My total right now - 18 lbs lost!  1.6 lbs of that was this last week of not tracking.

It might backfire in my face...but I'm hoping what I learned over the last few months will stick with me. I hope that the changes I've made are lifelong and not short-lived.  I guess we will see in the weeks to come. Keep me accountable.

Things I Want to Remember

Haylie (3 years old)
-New obsession is the color purple.  She has to wear something purple everyday.  Pants, top, necklace, headband.  She will also tell you 30 times a day that her favorite color is purple.

-These were direct quotes from her today.
"Thank you for listening to me."
"Jesus came down from Heaven." (this was said as she was pointing to a long haired, bearded guy in front of us at the dollar store.)
"Jace is poopin'."
"Ugh! You are making me frustrated!!"

-New game to her is playing hide and seek.  I'm not sure where she learned this game, but she runs into her closet, under her covers, under our covers to "hide" and then yells "come find me!!"  If you say her name when she can hear, she will burst into giggles.  The anticipation just about kills her.

-Still very much into Thomas the train.  We found a "huge Thomas book" at the library that is filled with short stories about Thomas and his friends.  She wants to finish the book by the time it's due back...yet she wants to read the same stories over and over.

-New favorite thing to do - cut paper.  This kid will sit in a chair with a stack of papers and cut every single one and then will say, "I'm getting better!"

Jace (13 months)
-Requires minimum of two paci's when sleeping.  One in his hand, one in his mouth...to rotate.

-So far in his little life he has had RSV, a major rash outbreak due to allergic reaction to penicillin, 3+ ear infections, eyes matted shut from sinus infection, a boil, what else am I missing?

-He shows no fear and loves crawling over things and mastering big obstacles.  He has two bruises currently on his forehead to prove it.

-When he points at you, he wants you to point back.  That is how he bonds.

-Favorite past time - pulling Haylie's hair.  If that is out of reach, he wants to play in the cat food.  If that is up off the floor, he wants to touch all the china in the china cabinet...you get the point...he is our little tornado.

A Little Trip

This past weekend we took a trip to see Justin's grandparents, parents and bro & nephew up in Missouri.  It was a nice 3.5 hour drive to Neosho and we had a good weekend.  I'd love to say I took all these amazing pictures of our fun together but I didn't break out our camera at all...until the way home.  Fail.

We left early Sunday to try to avoid the snow coming into town...

It got better once we hit Oklahoma.  I think we got the good end of the deal.  The rest of our family was driving straight into it.

But it was a great chance for a nap for some.

`

And since I've been wanting to stop by Pop's for awhile, we made a fun stop on our way home.  Haylie got her own soda, decided she didn't like it so Justin let her finish up his. (No she did not drink that whole bottle.)

Sibling love.

But, and this should come as a huge shock, Jace got sick the first night we were there.  He was a trooper for the most part when he had gunk in his eyes and a wheeze & cough by the time we left.  He looked awful and thankfully our pediatrician emailed me back with some tips on how to make him not so miserable.

This is him today.  We went in to see the doctor and everything is infected with bacteria.  A steroid shot later and some other meds and we are on our way.  Here's hoping he can stay healthy!!!

Sunshine-y Days

We are literally soaking up the sunshine with these nice weather days.  Thursday after school we went to the park for about 2 hours...Friday to the zoo...and today to Martin Park Nature Center.  I've never been to this park, but it's super cool and kind of gives the vibe of Pennsylvania parks which I love.  But, it is not very stroller friendly and I totally brought my bus of a double stroller.  Oopsy!

Lots of trails and a fun nature center with animals, bones, things to touch.  It probably occupied the kids for about 15 minutes before they were ready to do something else.

So we enjoyed the morning.  There was also a playground where these fun times happened.

And of course, it can't be fun without Jace throwing a fit, right?  (He was NOT happy to be asked to lay down for a picture.)

After, the fun continued when we tried to go fly kites...on the most still & calm day ever.  Oklahoma ALWAYS has windy days...except when you want to fly a kite.  Oh well, maybe tomorrow!

We are looking forward to this summer when we have more sunny days and we can get outside more and more!  My friend and I are thinking about trying out new parks around the city this summer...any good ones we definitely should see?

Running

I've always wanted to be a runner...but never had the discipline to actually work on it the right way.  I would just decide one day to start running and I would go out and run as long as I could (like, .13 of a mile) and then quit thinking I did a great thing.  Plus, I'm pretty sure I looked like Phoebe Buffay instead of the graceful Rachel when running.

So when I found out the there was an app called Couch to 5K, I was interested.  Come to find out, you need to actually work on your stamina so the app would have you run and walk for different intervals until you worked up to longer lengths.  

Tonight, I had the opportunity to sit on the couch and do nothing...maybe eat a brownie or two.  But instead, all I could think about was to go running.  Maybe it was the fact that we are signed up for a 5K in less than a month...but I'm pretty sure I just wanted to just because.

I have to admit, I ran for 10 minutes, walked for 5, then ran for another 10.  It was the longest I've run straight on my highest speed so far. It might have been torture...but the accomplishment after was a good feeling.

So maybe I'll become a runner after all.  I don't see any marathons (or even half-marathons) in my future anytime soon...just maybe a good way to spend my evening off the couch.

Missing You

Three years ago today we said goodbye to my Nana.  I can't believe it's been that long...it seems like only yesterday we had her with us.  I think about her a lot, wondering how she is faring up in Heaven (I'm pretty sure she likes it there).  I miss her on random occasions, when we are singing at church and I know how much she loved to hear the singing.  Or being in a Thursday morning bible class with an older lady who reminds me so much of Nana.  If things were different, would Nana have come to bible studies with me?  That would have been really special.

I wonder what she would have thought of my kids - only meeting Haylie as a baby and never getting the chance to meet my Jacers.  I bet she would have loved the fact that Jace has some red hair like my mom did.  Or that he "speaks" his opinion 100% of the time like she used to do.  I think she would have loved Haylie's sweet spirit and special hugs.  I wish we could give her one right now.

Although there are many things I miss about my Nana, I know we all have fond memories of her and are missing her in our own ways.  I know she is in a much better place and we will meet again.

Until then, Nana, I miss you.  Save us a place!

Whaa?

Check out these cool new knobs we got for our game cabinet...oh wait...

That's Jace's hand...so he either is now taking pictures (?!?!) or Haylie followed him around to document...something.

The world may never know.

Enjoying the View?

Several weeks ago my hubby got out his wood shark (aka chain saw) and got after our neighbors trees (that are strictly on our side of the fence).  I bet they loved it.  Regardless, he wanted to cut back some of the trees so more sunlight could get to a rather shady part of our yard and we could grow some grass there.

I don't know if anyone else can tell, but everything he left is growing straight up - it looks like this tree has been scared straight.

He might have chopped off a lot of the trees, but hopefully once they start to bloom they won't look so butchered.



And ironically, we have had a huge patch of brush in our yard since the massacre of trees.  I'm not mad about it - just find it ironic...because I'm not sure that's helping the grass get sun. *wink*

And here is just a cool shot of our awesome magnolia tree.  I love this tree so much, it's beautiful all the time.

All kidding aside, my hubby does a lot of yard work to keep our yard looking good.  I'm itching for warmer weather where we can get outside more...and no more sickness!

Outdoor Faces

Sunday was a BEAUTIFUL Oklahoma day.  It wasn't too windy and the kids got up in enough time before small group to enjoy a bit of sunshine.

Grumpy face and not-so-sure about it face.

Then Jace decided he wanted to taste some dirt.  Not sure he liked it...

Haylie got in some good jumps off the slide...because that's the reason why we bought that, of course.

I love seeing her "flying through the air" face.  She is hysterical.

She was having a great time, running around outside, helping Daddy and crawling around with Jace.

Then came 7pm at our friends house...and she started throwing up.  Justin was the closest so he saw it happen while I was man-handling Jace, who is 100% cranky all the time now. (I think it's the boil.) Anyway, she threw up but was still in good spirits so we thought it was a one time occurance.  We got home and to spare you details, she threw up about 8 times between our small group and 7am the next morning.  I started to feel achy and hot/cold so I went to bed and restlessly slept while poor Justin was up at all hours of the night with a wailing H, cleaning up her throw up, taking her to the potty for rounds of diarrhea and washing sheets, blankets, pillows, etc.  The next morning he stayed home to help and I emailed our doctor for some medicine for H.  He called it in and we got her to take some Zofran which seemed to help instantly.  Yesterday was a recovery day for us girls while the boys tried to keep it under control.  Justin got both kids to bed and then picked up the entire house and did the dishes while I sat on the couch.  I think Justin was really ready to go to work today so he could get some rest...ironically. 

Beautiful Sundays turning into a nightmare...thankfully we are on the mend.

And thankfully, we had our super husband/daddy to help us all out!!