Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Song of the Day: Justin Timberlake - Mirrors

I'm not surprised by the 1.6 lb weight gain at all!  I'm pretty sure it's from all the salt I had this weekend!  We ate out a ton, and I feel completely bloated.  I'm not too worried, and I'm back on track with eating better.  I also started working out more.  On Monday I went on a 6 mile run outside, Tuesday a 3 mile run on the treadmill, and today a 5 mile walk with the kiddos.  It's sunny this morning so I figured it was a good time to get outside since it's supposed to rain this afternoon and tomorrow.  When we got back I pushed the kids on the swings for about 30 minutes, then they went down the slide a ton, and now it's lunch time! 

I started my first summer class yesterday.  So far so good, and the book is an easy read!  I also have a ton of videos to watch for the class, so as soon as the kids go down for a nap I'm going to get that done.  Nothing too exciting right now.... except that we have 5 weeks until vacation!  I guess that's reason enough to stay on track!     

Saturday, May 25, 2013

First Week Back

Song of the Day: Icona Pop - I Love It (feat. Charli XCX)

Yesterday ended my first week back as a stay at home mom!  To be honest, I was kind of nervous.  It was supposed to rain Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but thankfully it only rained Wednesday!  Having the fence has been such a life saver!  Before, it was so nerve wracking to be outside with both kids when both Kyle and I were outside, let alone, by myself.  They like to run in opposite directions, at different speeds, and you never know if this will be the time they don't listen...  not relaxing at all.  With the fence, we just go outside and play!  We also got a kiddie pool up, so when it's nice they can play in it.  I've tried to kind of structure our time and still do arts and crafts and educational stuff like they would at daycare.  We made some flowers, and now we're going through the alphabet and coloring pictures that start with the same letter.  We've only done A (apple, alligator), but it should be pretty easy until we get to Q. 

Wednesday was Elliot's birthday so we went to the zoo!  Thankfully we got there right as the rain ended, and it didn't rain while we were there!  Elliot loved the goats and the tiger.  When we got home Caroline napped and Elliot was too excited to nap!  He kept getting out of his bed, so I tried laying down with him in ours and he kept saying, "Mommy, happy birthday to me.  Mommy, do you like happy birthday?"  Or something to the like of that, over, and over, and over.  After Caroline got up we went to the store and got stuff for the cake.  Elliot requested a rectangle cake, with blue cake, and blue frosting.  Thankfully the request was easy to fill :)  He also wanted macaroni & cheese for dinner - shocking! lol.  When Kyle got home, we had dinner, then I cleaned up while Kyle built Elliot's drum set.  He actually got the drum set for Christmas, but in the midst of everything else, he kind of forgot about it, and it was still in the box a few weeks later, so we decided to re-gift it to him for his birthday.  Elliot LOVES the drums.  Anytime we go anywhere there's a drum set, he looses his mind because he wants to play.  I actually had to leave an art fair/chicken q a few weeks back because he was throwing a fit because he saw the drums for the Jazz Band and wanted to play.  In fairness, he was also hungry, and it was really close to nap time, but the melt down was completely justified in the eyes of a (then) 2 year old.  So, I'm trying to keep Elliot out of the dining room while Kyle is working on the drum set.  Finally, everything's ready so we put the drum set in the doorway so he'll see it when he turns the corner.  In our minds, we'll have him open his other presents, then the last present will be the drum sticks I wrapped, and then we'll show him the drum set!  Perfect!  Haha, well, as we were sitting down, he bolted for the kitchen, and saw the drum set in the dining room.  This is what happened next.  

All week I've been trying to start getting Elliot interested in going to the potty in the toilet.  He really doesn't see the point, lol.  I'm not really sure what to do, so we have a potty chart that's been up for a while, and every time he practices he gets a sticker.  When he practices 10 times he gets a treat, and when he actually goes in the potty, he gets a super special treat (currently a tootsie pop).  Thursday morning he didn't want to put on clothes, and I said, okay, but reminded him he had to go in the potty and I asked him about every 10 minutes if he had to go.... I was cooking in the kitchen and Elliot ran past me into the bathroom.  All of the sudden I heard a tinkling sound.  "Oh crap." was my first thought.  I turned the corner to see that Elliot had lifted up the toilet seat, stood on his stool, and was peeing into the toilet!!!!!!  I was so excited, but didn't want to get too excited mid-stream and stop the whole thing!  He acted like it was no big deal, but was super excited to get his sucker!  A little while later he and I had a heart to heart, where I had to try to explain to him the poop comes out of his butt and not his penis.  Knowing that going poop in the potty would get him another sucker, he was standing in front of the potty, grunting, and squeezing his penis while saying, "Mommy, it's not working!"  I almost died laughing!  I've realized that he'll go pee in the potty only if he's naked.  I haven't tried to brave underwear after he pooped in his buzz lightyear ones on Monday (gross).  And I get it, he knows he can go in his diapers, and he doesn't have to stop playing until I notice he's smelly.  But, he's also shown that he can totally go in the potty without needing my help!  What a little stinker :)

Yesterday, my dad and brother came down and finished the play set!  It's so nice to have it done!  Of course, this morning Elliot wants to go outside, but everything is soaking wet and cold :/  Does the weather not realize it's Memorial Day weekend??  We're going to a cookout this afternoon, so it'd be nice if the kids could all play outside, but it's looking like we'll all be indoors.    

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

3 Years!!

Song of the Day: VeggieTales: High Silk Hat  - In honor of Elliot, since he's been singing this song non-stop for the past week.

Our little man is 3 years old today!!  I can't believe it!  I didn't lose anything this past week, which means I've lost 67.2 lbs in the past three years!  Granted I was 9+ months pregnant at the time, but it doesn't just come off when the baby is born (unfortunately!).  We started the morning with blueberry pancakes (Elliot requested strawberry, but they at ALL the strawberries yesterday), and now they're dressed and ready to go!  Of course the zoo doesn't open for another 1.5 hours... so I'm trying to stall, and it's not working so well.  They both have their shoes on and know something is going to happen!  I set up the tent/tunnel thing, so hopefully that keeps them distracted for a while!  Elliot also requested we go to the library today, and I think we'll do that this afternoon since it's supposed to rain.

Yesterday I had one of those stars aline perfectly, once in a lifetime kind of days.  I got to sleep until 7 (Caroline slept until 7, Elliot got up about 5:30, but will lay and snuggle, then at 6 request to watch PBS kids on my phone) and since I used to have to get up at 5:00, that's awesome, so I had a perfect amount of energy.  The kids were also content with playing with each other, and racing their cars through the living room.  I started picking up the toys since the weather many has been promising rain all week (it has yet to happen) and I hadn't cleaned for about 2-4 weeks depending on what part of the house we're talking about.  Like seriously, it was a disaster.  I picked up all of the toys, cleaned the toy room, vacuumed the entire downstairs, and spot cleaned any marks (we have wood floors so I just spot clean spills).  About 80% of our laundry was clean and in baskets, the other 18% needed to be cleaned, and about 2% was actually cleaned and put away.  I also got ALL OF THE LAUNDRY DONE!!!  Done as in washed, folded/hung, and put away!!!  It's amazing how much clothing you have when it's all put away - and on a related note, I need more hangers for the kids!  I also ran the dishwasher, scrubbed the kitchen floor, and dusted.  I didn't get the floors upstairs done, but I can't believe all I got done yesterday - with the kids awake!  It will probably never happen again!  Hahaha :)   

Today marks 6 weeks until our vacation!  We decided we're going to try to not eat out until then, which will not only save us calories, but money for the trip!  And hopefully that helps keep me in line!  :)  In sad news, our Keurig is acting weird, and I still haven't had any coffee this morning....

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

49 days!

Song of the Day: Pitbull - Give Me Everything ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, Nayer  .... I hate how much I love this song...

If I could take credit for all the stuff that got done at our house yesterday, I would!  Well, I can take credit for calling the people who got all the work done, so that counts right?  Lol.  We've had all these little things around the house that need to get fixed, and since someone needs to be home, it's just been put off.  And the fence looks AMAZING!  Last night the kids didn't even make it into the house until 6:00, and that was because they were soaked with water, and that mixed with the dirt, so needed baths bad!  It's going to be such a nice summer being able to go outside and not worry if the kids both walk off in different directions! 

I dropped the kids off at daycare this morning, went to my chiropractor appointment, then went home and decided to go for a run.  I want to start training to do longer runs, so I figured this was the perfect opportunity.  My plan was to run 3.1 miles, then do a run/walk combo for another 2-3 miles.  HA.  I was not dressed for the nice weather!  After 1 mile I was dripping with sweat and my workout changed to a 1 mile run, 4.5 mile walk.  And part of that walk was really leisurely.  I even stopped and sat by the lake for a while.  It was so pretty and the breeze felt so nice.  It felt great to just stop everything for 5 minutes. 

This morning, I weighed in at 196.8!  Down 1.6 lbs from last week!!  I honestly wasn't sure how this week was going to go since my eating has been off due to finals.  Monday night I had 5/8th of a frozen pizza at 9:00 pm because I realized I forgot to eat dinner, was starving, and still had a final to study (more) for.  That's something that I used to do quite a bit (eat the pizza), but I haven't done that in a long time - thankfully!  It's nice to know that a splurge every once in a while won't derail my whole journey.  Everything in moderation!

We have 7 weeks left until our vacation!  The countdown continues!  It's going to be here before we know it!


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Happy Happy

Song of the Day:  Katrina & The Waves - Walking on Sunshine

I was done with my last final this morning by 9:08!!  Not too bad!  I won't know all of my grades until next week, but I'm pretty confident that I've done well :)  

To top it off, I've gotten a ton done today!  I picked up some of my books for my summer classes (unfortunately one of my professors still hasn't indicated which books we need, so I'll have to get those later), and when I got home the fence was already started!  The electrician was just here to fix the switch in our dining room and the plumber is installing the toilet in our downstairs bathroom right now!  It will be nice to finally have a toilet on the main floor, especially since that's one of the things that drew us to the house in the first place!  Our electrician also knows our plumber, and he also wished me a happy Syttende Mai (Norwegian for 17th of May - their independence day, and the festival is celebrated this weekend in our town).  It made me glad to live in a small town :)

I'm hopefully going to get the house picked up before I get the kids from daycare.  Since it's so nice out, and the fence will be done, I think we'll eat dinner in the backyard.  Last night I asked Elliot what he wanted for dinner and he said, "chicken nuggets outside."  Lol.  Hopefully we'll also be able to go on a walk, but we may not since the kids will be able to play in the yard :) 

All in all, I'm feeling good!  Excited for this warm weather and ready for all that summer has to bring!

Friday, May 10, 2013

The Final(s Week) Countdown

Song of the Day: Europe - The Final Countdown  - choosing this song also got me REALLY EXCITED because I remembered that the new season of Arrested Development is starting up on Netflix May 26th!!!!

Seriously, could the end of the semester be any easier?  Last semester, the end was terrible!  I had a ton of finals and paper and sick kids to top it off.  I had 16 credits, and I was stressed!  This semester, I only took 12 credits, have finished papers early, and only have one final!  As of Tuesday by 9:45, I will be done with the semester!  I'm actually bored in the library right now - hence time to write a blog :)

I'm planning on starting to look at what topic I want to research for my capstone project next year.  I'm still kind of undecided, but I know it needs to be something I'm really interested in if I'm going to really want to stick with it for a 30-ish page paper!  I have a few topic ideas, but I just need to sit down and get lost in PsychINFO for a few hours.  I'm also impatiently waiting for my professors to update grades!  Two of them have almost everything in, one is pretty up to date, and the other is so far behind that it's kind of stressing me out!  I'm not worried about my grades, but I just want to know!

I really hope it doesn't rain all weekend.  Right now it doesn't look like it's supposed to rain, but the high is only 55, so that kind of sucks :/  I'm getting my hair done Saturday morning though!  I'm getting more highlights put in!  About seven weeks ago I got some really subtle blonde highlights, and I think I'm going for more blonde this time around :)  Getting ready for summer!   Our fence is hopefully going in on Tuesday (as long as the rain didn't delay their schedule)!!  I'm so excited to have it up!  And it's prefect timing because next week is the kiddos last week in daycare (until September).  

Our vacation is also 54 days away!  I started my countdown at 105 days, so it's excited to be almost halfway there!  The rest of May and June are going to fly by!  We have so much going on, especially the weekends!  I'm also taking two online classes this summer, and that also seems to speed things up!  I feel like it's going to be December, when I finally graduate, before I know it!!  

 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

almost done!


I have so much to report on, but so little time since this is my last week of classes!!! 

My 5k on Saturday went way better than I had hoped for!  I wanted to get under 33 min, and ended up with a time of 30:34!!  Which is under 10 min/mile!  Awesome!!! 

Besides the 5k, I haven't really done much to work out this past week.  Last night the kids and I went on a walk, and that was about it.  My eating has also been off this week, and Saturday I went way off and got the most amazing seafood pasta dish I have ever had!  And it was definitely calorie dense, but that's okay because I didn't end up gaining this week!  Granted I only lost .2 lbs, but I'm okay with that :)

I would love to keep writing, but I have so much to do today!!  The end of the semester is so close!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

wONdErland


Why hello One-derland!!!  For those of you who don't know, that's what people who have been living in 200+ range call finally being in the 100's!  You may have seen this talked about/shouted on shows like The Biggest Loser.  But I've been so excited to get back here!!!!!

This week I'm down 2.2 lbs, putting me nicely at 198.6!

The last time I remember being under 200 was the day before my bachelorette party, and I weighed in at 188.  I was horrified.  But apparently not horrified enough, because the next time I remember weighing myself was 4-5 months later, and I weighed in at 204.  So it's been about 4 years since I've seen a 1 at the beginning of my weight!  

I'm getting really excited for summer and our vacation!  It's finally starting to warm up outside (of course it's supposed to be back in the 40's on Thursday), but I only have 13 days left until I'm done with school (for the semester)!!  Of course I start right up with a summer class after Memorial Day, but I'm still looking forward to this semester being over.  It's actually been less stressful than past semesters, but I'm just ready for a break!

I don't really have much to write, which is fine, because I have a presentation to prepare for!