Happy New Year

*Meant to publish this yesterday*

Song of the day: It's a Wonderful Life - Auld Lang Syne

Well, I was suppose to start a class today, but instead I'm home with the kiddos and Caroline is sick, and it seems like she may have spread it to Kyle and I.  I took her to the hospital last night and we know it's not an ear infection or pneumonia, but they're not really sure what it is, so they're just treating her anyway with some amoxicillin.  Her fever is down this morning, but it's obvious she just doesn't feel good :(

Kyle and I decided to continue to order nutrisystem since he is gone so often and I get really sick of the lean cuisine meals (since there's only a few that I don't think taste exactly alike).  I lost some weight on it in August/September, so I'm hoping getting back on it will help me lose weight again!  We also bought a treadmill - and I can't wait to use it!  We realized that if we got a gym membership that we would only really be able to use it on the weekends, and we're not always home on the weekends, and the main thing that I would use it for is cardio - so we just decided to get a treadmill.  We got the Nordic Track T5.7 treadmill from Sears.  It was pretty easy to set up (it helped that Caroline slept the whole time), and it seems pretty cool when we just turned it on quick last night (after getting back from the hospital).  It is compatible with the iFit, which has routes based on google maps, so that might be kind of cool to get in the future!  My goal is to walk/jog/run (depending on energy level) for at least 30 min, 3x a week.  That's a pretty attainable goal, and hopefully I'll find myself doing more.
      
2013 Day 1 weigh-in: 218.6

Okay, I'm starting back at this!

Come On!

Song of the day:  Justin Bieber ft. Boyz II Men - Fa La La

Today we had a snow day!  It's nice to finally have snow, but as it's our first year as home owners, snow removal kind of blows :/  I was out shoveling before 6:00 am this morning, and went out again at 11:00.  Kyle's out shoveling right now.  My right shoulder and left forearm are killing me!  I actually thought about not writing a blog because it hurts so much :(  yayyy winter!

This semester of school is FINALLY over!  The last two weeks have been super stressful.  I've had six papers and six finals that had taken over my life, and a sick kid that I needed to stay home with.  Not the easiest.  I was hoping to end the semester on a stronger note, but I ended up turning in kind of average papers, and I'm hoping my exams went well...  I'm slightly crazy and check D2L and WINS ever few hours to look for any grade updates - none to report so far!  Kyle was making fun of me because I genuinely like my teachers for the whole semester and then I complain about them until grades are in.  I understand they have A TON of stuff to grade, but come on!  

In the past four months, if I have told you I would do something for you, and it was "no big deal" and I STILL haven't done it, NOW IS THE TIME TO REMIND ME!  I have a little break before my winter class starts, and I need reminding because my mind could only take so much information this semester.  Unfortunately if I didn't write it down (or sometimes, even if I did) I don't remember, and it didn't get done.  

Besides feeling like I'm old and falling apart, this snow day has been pretty good.  I made some amazing food in the crock pot and the sauce/marinade I whipped up to put on the meat and veggies while they cooked was AMAZING.  I mean, I don't want to sound conceded, but I am a really good cook when I have the time!  I miss eating "real" food, lol.  Before the snow day, I was planning on taking the kids to daycare, then going to a coffee shop and reading for a while, going Christmas shopping (since that hasn't really been started yet), then maybe getting my nails done and watching some Grey's Anatomy.... but that didn't happen.  So tomorrow I have to try to get everything done, pack, and I have an eye exam in the morning.  Ugh, I just kind of wanted a lazy day where I could wander stores without direction.  

We have so much coming up in the next week.  This weekend is Christmas with Kyle's dad and step-mom, Monday-Wednesday is Christmas with my family, then next weekend is Christmas with Kyle's mom.  We're thinking about going to the Dells for New Years Eve, but doing nothing sounds kind of nice too.  Then on January 2nd, I'm back in school!  Probably not going to be the most relaxing vacation, but when are holiday vacations ever relaxing?  Don't get me wrong, it will be fun, but fun and relaxing don't always go hand in hand!  

Now that I've had a chance to come up from the semester, I realize that it's December 20th and we haven't even started thinking about Christmas Cards.... so, just imagine my children smiling, wearing red or green, and the word's Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, etc printed underneath them.  And now time to search the internet for gift ideas!  

The time will pass anyway

Song of the Day: Neon Trees - Sins of My Youth

Apparently it's been a while since I last wrote!  School has pretty much taken over my life, as it should, so I haven't had much to write about.

On weight loss: Thankfully I haven't gained any weight in the last month, but I also haven't really lost any either.  I haven't been eating the greatest, and the only work out I get is Ballet twice a week for 75 minutes.  I can tell my core and body in general have gotten stronger, but not really lost weight.  I am fitting back into a pair of jeans that were tight before I got pregnant, so that's exciting!  I still have 12 lbs of pregnancy weight left though, so that doesn't really make sense, but I'll take it!

This week I've really been trying to get back into eating healthy, and it's only day 2, but I'm doing well so far.  What kills me is when I get home and I have guacamole and chips for dinner.  Not the worst thing I could eat, but not the best either.  The thing is, I even have all of these pre-packaged, single serving, good for you foods, but I keep forgetting about them.  I started leaving them out on the counter (the non-frozen ones) so I actually remember to eat!

I also tend to eat worse when Kyle is home.  We tend to order out a lot more, and we both acknowledge that this is a problem.  So, that's the first step right??

On school:  School's going really well!  I'm really liking all of my classes, and my field training sight is awesome!  There's been some tough stuff to deal with emotionally, but I feel like I've handled it really well, and I couldn't be more sure that this is what I want to do.

It's hard to believe that I only have a month left of classes!  I have so many research papers left to write!  I'm pretty much in a research hole until mid-December.  I'm registering for my classes at 6:00 today and I'm pretty freaked out.  Two of my classes are closed, but one professor said that he opens up more spots as registration continues, so just check back.  Another professor said she'd add me if it came down to the semester starting and there still wasn't a spot open, but to keep checking for someone to drop it before then.  Whew. 

I had a meeting about grad school last Friday and found out that it's three years instead of the two that I was anticipating.  Also, I graduate in Dec '13, but the program only has summer or fall starts.  And there's two classes I need to take in undergrad that I wasn't aware of.  Bummer.  I was super upset about it for a while.  Realizing that Elliot will be going into 2nd grade and Caroline will be starting Kindergarten when I'm finally done with school really puts everything into a time perspective.  I've been starting to feel better about the time, then this morning I read a friend's facebook status that said,

            "Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. 
                                                          The time will pass anyway."

Beautiful, and so so true.

quack quack

Video of the Day:  Bears - Beets - Battlestar Galactica

I don't really have much to write.  The kids finally seem to be healthy, and I'm hoping and praying it stays that way!  We've been on a continuous cycle of sickness for the last three weeks, resulting in 4 days of missed classes and me being extremely stressed out!  But everything has been back to normal this week, and I'm hoping it stays that way for the rest of the school year!

Fun news: Caroline finally has two teeth on the bottom!  Elliot got his first teeth at 4 months old and had a full mouth by 10 months.  Caroline got her first two at 7 months :)  I was worried that she would end up getting all of them at once, but thankfully it looks like we're going to avoid that!

With the kids being sick, and me missing school, I feel like I'm constantly behind, or trying to catch up.  I sometimes feel like a duck, cool and calm on the surface, but underneath my legs are kicking a mile a minute and I'm just trying not to drown.  I could really use some more library time.  Thankfully I'm back into the rhythm of having field training Friday mornings and I can go to the library Friday afternoons.  And that being said, I have homework to do :)

OH - This weekend Kyle, the kids, and I are participating in the American Heart Association - Heart Walk 2012 in Madison!  We're still working on raising donations, so please head to our website to donate! 

The Good and the Bad of it.

Song of the Day: Fuel - Bad Day

Bad things that happened today: 

1.  Elliot woke up at 4:30. At 5:15 he threw a tantrum because I wouldn't let him play with my phone in the bathroom. At 5:30 he threw another tantrum because I wouldn't let him take his toothbrush downstairs, because we brush our teeth in the bathroom (sometimes logic doesn't work on 2 year olds).
2.  Elliot's second tantrum woke Caroline up a little bit, Elliot heard her, then went and climbed into her crib, completely waking her up.
3.  I forgot Elliot's water cup for the car ride.  Not horrible since I had my water bottle with a straw in my back pack.
4.  Get to the library, realize I forgot my speakers for my presentation today.
5.  Go to Walmart, but cheap speakers, try them out in my car, and realize they're crappy, that's why they're so cheap.
6.  Back at the library ready to print out my handouts for my presentation, and my jump drive is completely failing to connect to the computer. FREAK OUT STARTS HERE. Thankfully I had emailed a copy to my professor, so I still had one.
7.  Get a call from daycare, Caroline has gunk coming from the corner of her eye (again), and she needs to get picked up.
8.  Go to my professor to see if I can reschedule tomorrow's exam for Monday and start crying because I'm so extremely stressed out (also because I missed last week and am still trying to play catch up), and she's so extremely nice, and also a mom so she completely understands.
9.  I thought I was buying a purple gatorade, but when it came out it was blue.

Good things that happened today:

1.  Despite all the stressful complications, my presentation actually went pretty well!

2.  After talking to the daycare director, we both agreed that if her eyes aren't pink, she doesn't have pink eye, and she's fine to go to daycare even with drainage.  THANK GOD!!

3.  Kyle was on his way home from Milwaukee so he stopped in Whitewater and took the kids home so I can go back to the library and study.
4.  The blue gatorade is actually more of an indigo color, and actually 'fierce grape.'  And it's pretty tasty.

Sometimes there's more bad/stressful events than good ones, but at the end of the day you just have to take a deep breath, and keep moving forward.

And I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband :)  ....and now time to study!
       

a break from your regularly scheduled programming

Song of the Day:  PSY - Gangnam Style    .... I love this song.

I'm not blogging as much as I would like, but all with good reason.  I'm really enjoying my semester and my field training placement!  I have really been enjoying all of my classes and professors.  The only reason I have time to blog today is because I'm home with a sick kid.  

Elliot and Caroline have both been fighting colds for the last three weeks.  Thankfully Caroline is down to a slightly runny nose, but Elliot isn't fairing so well.  BE PREPARED FOR GRAPHIC DETAILS! Yesterday he started having a yellow drainage from his left eye.  It looked like snot coming from his eye.  I was worried because I think I heard that pink eye is going around the older kids at his daycare.  I called Dean on Call Nurse Hotline and she asked if his eye was pink.  I said I don't think it's pink, but I think that I'm trying to see pink in his eye because I want him to be able to be treated for something.  She said if it's not pink, then it's not pink eye, just a product of his cold virus and it may spread to the other eye as well.  She went on to say to wipe it with a cold wet cotton ball and wash his hands a lot.  ... So do what I was already doing.  Really, hearing "you're child has a virus there's nothing we can do" really gets old.  Before bed Elliot had a slight fever and was definitely not feeling well.  Elliot came in about 1:00am coughing and wanting to cuddle.  After cuddling for a while we put him back in his bed because he just flails all over ours and then nobody gets any sleep.  When he woke up this morning he looked like crap :(  His eyes were swollen, but thankfully not too gunky.  

I realized that we hadn't given him his (over the counter) allergy medicine all weekend because the pollen counts were all down so we didn't think he needed it.  I gave it to him this morning and most of the swelling went down.  He doesn't have a fever anymore either, so I think with continued allergy meds he should be good to go tomorrow. 

I hate missing school.  Getting notes only helps so much.  I wish there was a camera running for each class so I could just watch it later.  I also worry that people think that I'm using my children as an excuse to just not go to class, because a lot of parents do that.  I'm not saying all parents do it, or even most, but it does happen .  When your kid has a fever or is too sick for daycare, yes you have to stay home, and yes, you are a parent first, but when you're kid has a little cold and you want to stay home with them to cuddle all week, that's no reason to miss class - or if it is, don't complain that you have no idea what's going on because you didn't bother getting notes or asking anyone.  Okay, done with that mini rant!

I'm hoping to get some school work done today, but that's probably not going to happen unless Elliot and Caroline nap at the same time.  Every time I bring anything out, Elliot goes into "Helping Mode."  It's really cute, and would be nice if I needed help identifying each letter in my book :) 

back to school, back to school...

Song of the Day:  Billy Madison - Back to School Song

After today I've had the 'first day' of all of my classes!  I'm really excited for this semester because I'm really interested in all of my classes.  I got my first choice in Field Training and I'm going to be shadowing a school counselor at a local elementary school!  I already met with her and I think it's going to be a really good fit for the semester!  

The kids did really well on their first (and second) day of day care!  Elliot could care less that I was leaving!  Which is SUCH an improvement on last year's first day drop off (more like first two weeks of drop off).  Caroline is a little too young for the separation anxiety yet, and I'm hoping that she's fully adjusted by the time she is in that phase.  Elliot has loved being able to play outside and with all of the new toys and friends inside.  Today they learned about the color red and he's been telling me all about 'red' even though I'm not 100% sure about what he's telling me about red, lol.  Caroline had a rough first day, but after they figured out to put her in the bouncy that is identical to the one we have at home, she's been great.  She loves bouncing and gets so excited!  She's eating well and has started on cereal, fruits, and veggies, but her naps aren't there yet.  It's hard because she falls asleep on the way to daycare so her naps are off.  She's also pretty much refusing to fall asleep.  There's still a lot of new stuff to get used to, so I'm not worried about it yet.  Well, I'm trying not to be worried about it yet.  It took Elliot about two weeks until he started napping really well at day care, so I need to give Caroline that time as well before I start freaking out :)  

The only downside about school is my 5:15 wake up call.  Tuesday, Kyle had a super early flight, so I woke up at 3:00 when his alarm went off and couldn't get back to bed, so I was ready really early.  Today I woke up at 5:15 when my alarm went off, and we were late getting out of the house.  So it looks like 5:00 is going to be the magic number.  Oof-da.  I've been so exhausted and am beyond ready for bed by the time Elliot goes to bed.  I just don't have enough hours in the day to catch up from Tuesday morning.  I can't wait for this weekend!  Hello nap time :)

As far as eating goes, we haven't ordered out yet!  But trust me, I wanted to!  I didn't get to prepare for the week like I wanted to, but we have still had good meals.  It's going to take a few weeks to really get into the swing of things, but I'm pretty optimistic!