Actually That Was Embarrassing

This weekend my little boy turned six.  How did this happen.  I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday.  It was a Sunday morning.  I was having contractions.  We called my mom who came up to watch Ashton and we headed for the hospital.  I wasn't very far along yet but my blood pressure was pretty high so they decided to keep me. 

The day went slowly.  I was having contractions but they weren't too strong yet so they kept me in a triage room until a birthing room finally became available in the evening.  About 10:30 p.m. a doctor came and broke my water.  Then the really painful contractions started.  A nurse checked me around 11:00 p.m. - told me it would be awhile - and that she'd be back in a while.  At 11:30 p.m. I told (okay maybe screamed) to Jason that I thought I needed to push.  Jason called the nurse who sauntered back into the room, took one look at me and the top of Bowen's head and called the doctor.  Bowen arrived at 11:45 p.m.  I call him my fast and furious baby.

He was 9 pounds even.  So cute and pudgy.  The cheeks, oh my the cheeks.

So I disgress.  We celebrated this weekend.  It didn't start out really great.  As Bowen was getting ready for school on Friday he looked at me straight on and I noticed I could see one side of his neck sticking out past his cheeks.  Not normal - he still has pretty big cheeks.  I had him come to me and I felt his lymph nodes and under his right ear was very swollen.  I freaked out a little and took him to a walk in clinic.

Turns out he has a red throat, and right ear infection and very swollen glands.  He prescribed us antibiotics and sent us on our way.  The only symptoms Bowen had been displaying was a little bit of the sniffles.  Neither of my kids have ever had to have medicine before so we were not prepared for how awful this stuff would taste.  Poor Bowen.  He's really brave about it but this morning he told me that "Mom, you have no idea how painful this is!"  He's so dramatic.

The rest of his birthday weekend was great.  We started by going to the movie "The Adventures of Tin Tin" at the cheap theatre.  Bowen loves going to movies.

It wasn't especially cold in the theatre but he insisted on wearing his hat for the entire movie.

After we headed home Ashton helped me decorate Bowen's cake.  No fancy cakes around here I'm afraid!

Then we made homemade pizzas for dinner.

Bowen putting on his toppings.



Ashton topping with olive oil.





 



Mine and Jason's pizza - it was really yummy!

The finished products.

Ashton topped his with nutella.

After supper Bowen opened one present.  A new Wii Game.

Then it was time for cake.

Sunday, February 26th is Bowen's actual birthday.  The day started with church.  I had choir and then Jason had meetings so the kids were at the church from 8:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

My handsome 6 Year old ready for church!

After church it was time for presents.

Then we were off to Montana's for a birthday dinner.

Ashton still looking for food after finishing his cornbread.

Of course, no birthday dinner at Montanas would be complete without the wearing of the "Moose Hat".

A bunch of the wait staff brought Bowen his mini ice cream cones, had him stand on the bench and wear the moose hat.  They then informed the restaurant that Bowen was having his 6th birthday and then sang to him.  After they left Bowen said "Actually, that was embarrasing - Ashton you were right!"

We sure love having Bowen in our family.  He is so funny and clever, and keeps us laughing.  He is sensitive and kind.  He loves his older brother and looks up to him.  He's very outgoing and loves playing with his friends.  He loves going to school and learning.  I'm thankful I was chosen to be his mom. 

Happy 6th Birthday Bowen - We Love You!!



Friday Weigh-In

Well, I wish I had better news today - but I'm just going to say it.  This week I gained ...

2.5 lbs



Yikes!  I'm not going to give a bunch of excuses.  It is what it is!  It is not a big surprise to me, I'm well aware why I had a weight gain.  I have implemented some big changes but I just don't think it has been long enough for results to show up yet.  So other changes I know I need to make are:

- drinking more water

- not eating in the evening

- portion control

The big news is we bought a treadmill.  I feel like this is going to make a world of difference for me.  Jason got it up and running on Tuesday night and I had my first workout on Wednesday.

It runs really quietly and smoothly and I am loving it.  I have been exercising after dropping off Bowen at the bus.  I get my water bottle, turn on People's Court and go at it.  I do however need to get new running shoes.  The pair I have I bought along time ago and they are too small.  On Thursday I had to take them off and go in my socks (not ideal).  So I'll head out tomorrow to replace them.

I'm not a runner - at least not yet - but I walk as fast as I can and try different inclines.  My legs have been a little sore, but that is probably a good sign.  I'm going to keep at it and I'm sure I'll start seeing results.

The other thing I need to be doing is tracking my food intake.  I didn't this week - and see what happened! That is an important step for me.  It is just to easy to eat more than I should when I'm not accountable.

I realize my weight gain this week is horrible, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it.  I'm going to make a smoothie for breakfast, and then later jump on my treadmill.  I appreciate the support I have been receiving - it really does help.  Any suggestions are also welcome.  I certainly hope I'll be back with better news next week.

Love of Reading

Bowen is loving kindergarten this year.  He loves his teachers, the kids in the class and the school.  We've also discovered that he is a very good reader.  For quite awhile he has been able to read the titles of his favorite shows, or signs on stores.  The other day his teacher sent home a list of must-know kindergarten words.  I quickly made the words into flashcards so I could work on them with Bowen.  We sat down to go through them - he knew every one!

This past week they have started home reading.  Each night he brings home a simple little book to read and then he has a reading log that he can do word work in.  Either draw a picture from the book, rhyming words, words directly from the book, etc.  So the first night he brought home his book he knew every word in it.  The next night the same thing.  Then he asked me to read his library books to him.  When we got them out he asked if he could try reading them.  I only had to help with a few of the words.

He is so proud and excited about this new skill.  I hope he always loves to read!

He can be pretty expressive when he reads!!

Doing his homework.

Family Day Weekend

I have a love/hate relationship with long weekends.  The kids were off school Thursday, Friday and Monday.  Oh my - that's a long time with my children.  Don't get me wrong I love them to bits, but a mom needs a break once in a while.  Luckily for me my mom came through for us and came up on Saturday for a visit.  She offered to stay home with the boys so Jason and I could have some much needed one on one time.  We kissed her thanks and ran out the door.  We went for a very nice dinner at Red Lobster.  Now I realize that the Red Lobster is not exactly high brow - but it was lobster fest!  Can we say delicious!  I loooove lobster!  My meal was so yummy and it didn't break the bank.

Mom stayed up for the entire weekend so we thought on Monday we'd take everyone to a movie for Family Day.  I had suggested "The Muppet Movie" at the cheap theatre - but that got quickly overruled by the three men in the family.  You see, George Lucas in his effort to make even "more" money is rereleasing all the Star Wars movies in 3D into theatres.  So of course we had to go see that.  Just last week the boys had bought Star Wars t-shirts so Jason ran to Walmart to see if he could find one too.  Unfortunately they didn't have any in his size.  I keep trying to tell him that shirts like that aren't for grown men, but he doesn't understand that. 

The movie was fun and it was worth it to Jason to spend every penny to see Bowen on the edge of his seat enjoying every moment.  He kept explaining to Grandma who everyone was and on what level he plays this scene on his DS or Wii Star Wars games.  Only 5 more movies to go.  Wish me luck!

It was wonderful to have my mom visit this weekend.  I love spending time with her.  She was also able to give the boys haircuts.  Thank goodness!  Ashton had been complaining his hair was getting so long it was hard for him to see.  Now to clean the house and do a mountain of laundry.  At least the boys are back in school!

Friday Weigh In - Third Times the Charm

Why is it so hard to stay on a diet?  For starters I know I shouldn't call it a diet, it's a "lifestyle change".  But really let's be honest it's a diet!  I love food!  I always have.  I eat when I'm happy, I eat when I'm sad,  I eat when I'm worried, I eat when I'm bored (especially when I'm bored).  I'm sure it stems from my childhood - so that means I can blame my mother, right!  Just kidding! 
I've got all the tools at my disposal.  I know exactly what I need to do to lose weight.  For some reason I'm good for awhile and then I lose my motivation, or get busy and I lose focus. 

So anyways I'm back for round 3.  Third times the charm!  I didn't want to but this morning I made myself get back on the scale and see what I've done to myself.  Well I haven't gained everything back, but from when I first starting blogging about my weight loss I've now only lost 10.5 pounds.

Fresh start!  This week I will track my food intake, and exercise 3 times.  I'll be back next Friday to report my progress.

My friend dying this week has thrown me for a loop.  It sort of threw my own mortality in my face and it scared me.  I'm not ready to go anywhere and I know I need to get a better handle on my health.  I don't like having to take pills for high blood pressure and stomach issues.  I also know that if I lost enough weight I probably wouldn't need either drug.  I need to do this for my family.  I need to do this for me!

I'm tired of being winded carrying laundry up the stairs.  I want to have the energy to play with my kids and run my household the way I want to.  I'm already probably one of the oldest moms in my kids circle of friends - I don't want to be the heaviest too!

So there it is - the good, the bad, and the ugly.  If any of you out there (my "few" faithful readers) have fabulous ideas to help me stay motivated I'd love to hear them.  They say it takes a village to raise a child - maybe it will take a "blogging" village to help me lose weight!  Til next Friday.

Appreciate Every Moment

Yesterday of course was Valentine`s Day.  Earlier in the day I received news that a friend of ours from our past ward had passed away during the night.  I was so saddened and shocked by this news.  She is just a few years older than me and was such a lovely lady.  We had just run into her and a couple of her kids at the mall a few weeks ago and had a nice chat.  She was in the back of my mind all day.

The kids had fun getting their valentines at school and came home with quite a haul.

My sweet husband brought me home some flowers.  I wasn`t expecting any as he had bought me some tulips last week.

I then taught piano until 8:30 p.m.  Jason had fed the kids and put them to bed.  Jason and I then watched a movie and had some sparkling apple juice and chocolate covered strawberries.



It was a nice ``love`` day!!  I don`t ever take my husband and children for granted, but yesterday Laura`s death reminded me how we need to enjoy every moment we have with our loved ones because we truly do not know what this life will bring us.  How grateful I am to know that I will have the people I love `forever` .

Wednesday Date Night!

This past weekend we had company.  Jason's mom and brother had been up visiting since Sunday.  Before they came we had planned that on Wednesday night all the adults would go out for dinner to celebrate Jason and Mitch's birthdays.  I usually teach until 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday but a couple of my students have been away and I'd be free after 6:30 p.m.  So I had lined up a babysitter and was looking forward to going out.  Well it turned out that plans changed and our company was heading home early. 

I was disappointed, to say the least!  So to appease his wife Jason suggested we still go out - after all the boys were so looking forward to seeing Sheri. 

Jason even bought me flowers!!

We went for a great dinner at a new place in Riverbend - Baton Rouge.  I'd definitely go back.  Menu items similar to The Keg and reasonable prices.  We started with a spinich/artichoke dip, Jason had some yummy ribs, and I had linguini primavera with chicken, and we finished with a delicious chocolate mousse.

Thanks Sheri for watching the boys - they always have so much fun with you.  It was a much needed break from our busy schedule and I enjoyed having some alone time with my husband.  Happy Date Night!!

All Dressed Up With No Place to Go

Every Sunday of course we go to church.  However this week I was supposed to go to Ward Council but had not been feeling well so had decided to stay home with the boys until Primary at 12:00 noon and Jason headed off to meetings and church at about 8:45 a.m.  Before church started I called the church and talked to Jason and told him I wasn't doing any better and didn't feel like I could make it to church at all.  He said he would let my counsellors know (sorry girls) and I said I'd have the boys ready so he could come home and take them back for primary.

The boys got ready and looked pretty handsome.  Although they both need a haircut!

It ended up that Jason was too busy to be able to come home to get them for church.  All dressed up with no place to go!!