February 29, 2004
Quack quack!
We've still had no luck finding a bath ring at any of our local stores. Has anyone heard whether or not they stopped making them? Today while Doug was out shopping, he bought Daniel a little ducky tub thinking he would be safer sitting up in it rather than just the bare tub. Here's our little guy checking out this duck as it quacked back at him.
Unfortunately, all Daniel really wants to do in the tub is lay back and he's just way too big for this blow up tub when he does that.
I guess we'll take the ducky tub back or we'll keep it as a play thing for him when he does want to sit up.
We did nothing today but clean up around the house. I got his pictures into the frames I bought yesterday. I also made a mess of sweet and sour ribs for supper. YUM! I convert the sauce to low carb for myself. I love suppers like that so I don't have to cook twice. Between the cleaning, preparation and cooking, I really felt like I was in the kitchen for most of the afternoon. Gah.
Tomorrow is Monday and all I have to say about that is YUCK. I wish I had three day weekends just so I didn't have to deal with the Monday blahs. Night all.
February 28, 2004
Shopping!
After Sarah's soccer practice today, I took Daniel on a little shopping trip. *insert snicker here* I figured out last weekend what to spend that Dillard's gift card on...new makeup! I've heard great stuff about Clinique, so I figured what the hell! I even got some great free gifts! Check out all my loot now!
Isn't that marvelous! Mind you the shampoo/conditioner is Redken All Soft recommended by Steph. We won't talk about the cost of any of that stuff because frankly I'm sure if my hubby added it all up, I probably would never be allowed to go shopping again LOL! I've always used Maybelline, so I'm ready for a change!
I also went to Hobby Lobby to get some frames for Daniel's recent portraits. I love that place for frames, they always have them for 50% off and a huge selection, so I got about ten new frames! Doug was out shopping today too. He got me more blueberries/strawberries/Atkin's treats at Sam's and of course he also got me my Saturday flowers!! Aren't they funky looking?!
Awwww. I'm so spoiled, it's pathetic really, but shhhhh don't tell my hubby that!
February 27, 2004
What's new?
Not a heck of a lot. Daniel has struggled this week trying to get better. Today seemed to be much more of a normal day for him. He went back to school today and had himself a good day for a change! The kids have been having their soccer practices. They seem to be gong well. I went last weekend with Sarah to hers. She tries real hard, I'll give her that much. I just hope her team mates have lots of patience with her.
Last week, Doug and I bought Daniel his first sippy cup. The spout (is that what they call that??) is a bit flexible like a nipple so baby can get used to it first. It has a valve in it so baby has to suck on it to get any juice out. I figured that would be quite the challenge getting Daniel to do it. Well here's my little guy showing off with his new cup. Got it right on the first try!
Here's my big boy sittin' up in the bath tub. I guard him with my hands still because he has a tendancy to throw himself backwards at a seconds notice.
I've been looking for a bath ring and it seems they don't sell them anymore??!! I haven't searched on line yet. I don't want one of those bath seats from BabiesRus that attach to the side of the tub. I think they look retarded and they also look like you wouldnt' be able to use them for very long.
Here's Daniel during one of his happy moments this week playing with his mozart box. Yes those are pillows behind him and yes I'm anal about him falling backwards and getting hurt. It still freaks me out a bit to see him sitting up!
He seems so grown up when he's sitting up. He's also discovered this week how to scoot around the floor. He rolls and digs his knees and hands in to boogie all over the blanket. Won't be long and he'll be up on those hands and knees THEN we'll have issues! =)
On the forum, we often have threads called See you, See me (insert date). They are a lot of fun! I often post pictures of myself with Daniel or the pugs. Here are a couple of those from this week just for fun.
The gals over there really loved the expression on Daniel's face here in this shot. I have to say, I do too. He really looks in awe of his mommy. This is my desktop picture this week at work (I change them all the time!)
I post so often over there that I try to avoid posting the same thing here because I have a lot of friends that lurk around my blog and it must be boring for them to see the same thing posted in two places. BUT I have to try to remember I have much older, longer time reading people that do not read the forum, so I'll try to slip in some of this stuff from time to time just for fun!
February 24, 2004
My sick baby!!
This past weekend we noticed Daniel getting congested again. Yesterday was MUCH worse and by last night we knew he had to go back to the doctor. He had finished up the anti-biotic for the previous ear infection on Friday and he appeared to have gotten better. He was up and down all night last night and pretty fussy for his usual happy self. We were worried that the ear infection hadn't went away or came back or whatever. It was either that or he was just bogged down with a bad cold again. It needed to be checked. Doug called the nurse early 'tis morning and made an appointment for 11:20 today.
Not only did the doctor discover infection in his lungs, but he also saw that both ears were infected this time!! His right ear is much worse than last time. GAH Poor little guy. He's definitely had some issues since xmas time and the doctor spoke to us about that. Right now he feels the congestion in his lungs is mostly due to his cold/ear infection etc., but if this was to continue this way over the next few months he would lean towards it being asthma.
Our doctor's been in this city for six years and he said this is by far the worst year for respiratory illnesses in children that's he's seen. He said on average a child will have a cold eight times between the age 1 mos - 12 mos, when you have a child in daycare or around other children frequently, that average is more apt to rise. *sigh* Another reason to hate work.
So we have a new prescription for a different anti-biotic. Daniel was also given a breathing treatment in the office and the doctor felt that listening to his lungs after the treatment sounded better, so he also prescribed the little ventilator machine and medicine for it too. He'll need to have these treatments four times a day for the next couple of days and then as needed after that. Here is a picture of my sick little baby sleeping through his afternoon breathing treatment.
February 23, 2004
COOKIE...
Here is Daniel munching on his first biter biscuit! I used to have the greatest time watching the kids when they were babies with these things. They'd make such a mess with them! Daniel only had his for a few minutes and you can see he was already getting pretty dirty with it...just look at the side of his freshly washed high chair!!
I recently ranted over on a board I frequent about stupid laundry. The kids have a tendancy to throw clean clothes in with their dirty clothes thus making twice as much work for us! We wash and dry the clothes. We will also sort them out into baskets unless they offer to do it for chore money. It is up to them to PUT THEM AWAY. They are told to do it right away and even still I can't count how many times I've hauled their arses back to the laundry room to dump all the clean clothes back on them.
It's frustrating. We are a large family. We produce a LOT of dirty clothes. We do NOT need to be washing clean clothes! Here's the picture I posted. On Thursday, the laundry was completely done. On Saturday after room cleaning, here's what I was looking at.
The gals thought I was nuts for not making the kiddos wash their own clothes at their age. A lot of their kiddos/teens do wash their own things. Doug figures we'd be trading one head ache for another (which is probably true, it would just give them something new to gripe and fight about it). How old were you when you had to do your own laundry?
February 20, 2004
Oh my!
Some boy invited Sarah over to his house afterschool to watch a movie or "something". It's the something that we're curious about. Doug went through all sorts of scenerios in his head last night, poor guy, it's really only just begun. I can't wait to see him when she's 15 and insisting she doesn't need parental supervision and why can't she stay out till 1 a.m.
She's had a bit of boy/girl drama at school this week. The boy she's had a crush on since the beginning of the school year found out that she liked him...so did his girlfriend. Doh. The best thing about what happened is Sarah turned to both Doug and I for advice on what she should do so the girlfriend won't be mad at her anymore because as Sarah said "I only like him as a friend...that's all!". Well Doug got confused with her story so he graciously sent her to me when I got home from work. heh how fun. I told her what I'd do and the next day she did it and now everything is okay. *thank god for me, had that not worked....eeeek for the mama*
Oh to be that age again. The emotions, the drama, the heartaches...oh my!
February 18, 2004
What to feed him now?
Well see that'll teach me to brag about what a great eater my kiddo is. Shortly after I introduced meat veggie dinners, he's simply decided to refuse veggies now. Each day I try it, it's getting worse and worse. Today he gagged himself so I'd stop feeding it to him. Check it out...here he is today while I was trying to get him to eat his peas and carrots. I'd put a spoonful in, he promptly took his little fists and scrapped at his tongue to get all the veggies out. *laughs* What a little rugrat I have. He wants what he wants, when he wants it!
So, today for lunch he had his fruit melody and a jar of custard. What the heck am I supposed to feed him now. I'm not sure about feeding him meats twice a day. I guess it wouldn't hurt him, they at least have veggies in them. I told Doug that I may want to try to make my own veggies and blend them up. Perhaps, he's just getting at the stage where he doesn't like processed food anymore. Anyone out there ever make their own baby food? I have in the past, a VERY long time ago. Any ideas would be helpful.
Sweat hog
Okay I am grossly out of shape! Justin and I took the pugs and Daniel out walking yesterday because the weather was so nice! We ran into many dogs while out and about, one even jumped it's fence at us, but thankfully, he didnt' leave his own yard. It still didn't stop me from picking up the pugs for safety anyway. I realized it's probably not a good idea to take the baby and the pugs at the same time because how would I keep everyone safe if a big dog came at us. Yikes, anyway, we dropped the pugs off and Justin and I finsihed our walk.
Today I got the bright idea we'd go again. Doug decided to come along too. I warned him that in order for me to get anything out of it, I had to walk quickly, not doddle at the park. He was game, so our caravan of family members all headed out the door. All eight of us! We walked quickly around three blocks, I have no idea of the distance, but I doubt we were gone for even thirty minutes and here I am sweating like a hog! I guess I need to get out more, GAH.
February 17, 2004
New discoveries
While I was at work yesterday with Daniel, I had noticed him pulling himself up in his stroller so he'd sit upright. What's funny is I've never seen him do that before. I mean he has sat upright in his stroller before, but not on his own. He literally pulled himself up by the little tray in front of him and he just hung onto the tray the whole time we were walking. It was cute. Today Doug had him sitting up on the floor and he had actually held himself for a long time. I was so happy to see that when he started to lean or fall forward, he used his hands to gain his balance. This is new just today! I'm excited to see him discovering that!
Hurray for Daniel! Oh and just so you know, he had the hat on because I was getting him dressed for a walk 'tis afternoon and when I came back in with his jacket, that's when I saw him sitting up for his daddy! Can't pass that picture up. =)
Sarah had her first soccer practice tonight. She came home pretty excited about it. She's got a couple of girls on her team from her class (thankfully not the bully though) and she seemed to have enjoyed herself. We'll see in a few weeks! Doug said most of the other kids on the team have a few years soccer experience at minimum, so Sarah's really going to have a tough time getting caught up with that. I hope she doesn't get teased. She's not the most coordinated little thing there is! Oh well, I hope she at least makes some friends.
Anyone watch American Idol tonight? Wow did they ever suck. They don't even compare to last week's bunch. Yikes! I'm not even sure how those two brothers even made it as far as they did.
February 16, 2004
Just horrible
We read some sad news over at Terri's blog tonight about an old friend of ours that we knew via the MPRPG (Clanlord) that we used to play a lot. HWC K'Pyn (Randall) passed away unexpectedly sometime during the night of Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. He was a young man, I believe close to Doug's age, so it's pretty freaky to think of him suddenly passing away like that. It's a real tragedy and I feel horrible for his family.
Presents for moi!
Happy happy happy, joy, joy, joy. My hubby got me presents.
I got the "Atkins Essentials" paperback that goes with my "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution" book. This new book is filled with more information, frequently asked questions, menus, recipes, helpful tips etc. I can't wait to read it. Then I got "The Low-Carb Bible". It's HUGE. It's got a ton of recipes with nice large colored photos and it also reviews all the latest low carb diets. Can't wait!! Whoooo! Me likey!
Daniel was really fussy for awhile tonight. He didn't sleep that well today and wasn't interested in supper. After about an hour or so of seeing a not very happy baby, I decided to give him some Motrin. I hate those "unseen" owies. I never know anymore what it could be. He was batting a lot at the side of his head near his ear. I wasn't sure if his ear was bothering him, or if he was teething or perhaps he even had a headache. I have no idea! What's your breaking point with your little one? When do you just give him/her medicine? Do you wait it out for very long if they seem like they are hurting? He was fine a little while after the medicine, so go figure. Something was hurtin'.
February 15, 2004
As always...
Heh, very typical Texas snow fall...here's what we woke up to today...
Technically the snow was gone by late yesterday afternoon. It never sticks around. Thank god, I really don't like snow. The kids like it, but I say that's because they've never had to drive in it as an adult
Here you can see a tiny bit of wet/snowy patch just to the bottom left, but that's where the kids had it all piled up yesterday. They made the snowman, one out back and one out front and afterwards, Justin threw together a snow fort. Have at it, I say because it'll be the only snow fall this year I bet. Mmm look at that big beautiful blue Texas sky!! *insert big goofy grin here*
February 14, 2004
Winter Wonderland
They've been calling for snow flurries for the past couple of days. I usually just ignore snow warnings down here in Texas because well...let's face it, Texas hardly ever gets any snow! I've seen one ice storm and one or two snow flurries that amounted to next to nothing. Coming where I come from - big deal eh? Well here's what we woke up to 'tis morning (or I should say hubby woke up to because I slept in hehe).
The camera was taking really dark pictures for some reason, maybe because it was soo bright out. I'm not sure. I've tried to adjust the color on some of these, but I suck at that and have probably ruined the photos. So just pretend these pictures are nice, clear, picture perfect photos okay?!
Here are my two crazy pugs tentatively checking out the snow.
It didn't take long for the two of them to venture out. Mind you Bella was much more excited about it then Dexter was. Then again, this is the same dog that loves to bite sprinklers while they are on, so that was to be expected!
I remember last year during the little ice storm we had, the kids made a tiny snowman and the dogs went nuts on it, barking and barking. Dexter made no exceptions this year either, nor did Bella. She was barking and biting at this snow ball Justin was trying to make and shortly thereafter, Dexter peed on it!!
Notice the bags on Cody's feet? None of the kids have winter gear, it's just not needed and pretty hard to find in stores anyway! Well after all the kid's hard work, here's what we got! I'm sure Dexter will enjoy peeing on it for the next 2 or 3 days!
February 13, 2004
My hungry boy!
If I don't get it in fast enough, we all hear about it! I should just tip the jar and dump!! Here is Daniel enjoying his favorite dessert...apples and blueberries!
February 12, 2004
I just can't decide...
which picture is cuter!!
or
Doesn't he look super excited in that last picture LOL. Okay, I think they both are equally adorable!
I woke up 'tis morning feeling pretty icky. Had a sore throat and felt queazy as if I had morning sickness. I went into work anyway because I had a bi-weekly payroll to run and as it turns out, quite a few people called in sick, so something's going around. Tonight I just feel strained and tired out.
We were supposed to have Doug's mom and step dad over for supper. I mentioned to Doug that perhaps they may not want to come because something's going around and they would just end up taking it home to Grandmother (who's very elderly and a common cold for her can be pretty bad!). Well his mom called just after that to cancel tomorrow because she's been sick for a few days. It's too bad, we were looking forward to the visit. We never get company. Most times I like it that way, then others times I feel pretty anti-socialable.
I'll leave you with a picture of true friendship...
February 11, 2004
A few pictures from today...
I wish you all could see how much Daniel loves his siblings. I see in their near futures a little tag along that will no doubt annoy the daylights out of them! Justin can just walk in the room and make a little noise at Daniel and he just cracks up laughing. Sarah is a little more shy around Daniel, she prefers to watch him, play with his toys with him and kiss him a lot. Cody can make him crack up too by making faces at him. Daniel's little face just lights up when they play with him and I'm happy to say they play with him a lot. They don't find him annoying at all.
Well actually, when he makes a lot of noise while they are playing the gamecube, that'll bug them sometimes because Daniel is right beside the TV in his jumper usually when he starts. Sometimes they look at me and say "is he fussing or just making a lot of noise". I usually laugh it off and say "he's just talking to you". lol. They usually just roll their eyes LOL. Heh
Anyway, Cody had Daniel laughing really hard tonight, so I tried to get a picture of it, but as soon as I came close, Daniel decided watching me was funnier, so I just got a couple of shots of the two of them together. Doug thought Daniel's expression on his face in this shot was really funny looking.
While all the picture taking was going on, Dexter, as usual, got front and center, so I snapped a good close up...
and right after that shot was taken, I got this look from the boss pug...Can you say not happy about the flash folks? lol
Okay, I'm done for tonight. Night!
Are we nuts?
We just finished registering the two oldest kids for their move next year to the new schools. Sarah will go to Justin's middle school and Justin moves on to ninth grade campus. We also just signed Sarah and Cody up for soccer. Sarah's coach just called tonight to tell us all about the practice times and what not. We're still waiting to hear from Cody's coach. After filling out all the registrations I got this overwhelming feeling of what the hell are we getting ourselves into? I mean geesh....Justin is currently in track, just finished cross country. Doug gets up 6:20 a.m. every other morning to drive him to practice (last year it was EVERY morning), he'll soon start with Saturday meets. Sarah has soccer on Tuesdays and her first run of games starts early March. Cody's practice time/games is yet to be determined. Justin signed up for football AND track next year (not real sure how he'll do with the football thing though, he's not ever taken it yet and I'm betting most of the students have years of football under their belt).
We just talked to Sarah about her 7th grade registration. Earlier in the week she expressed interest in joining band. I talked to Doug about it because the parents are responsible for the instruments and from what I hear, it can be costly. When we talked to her about it tonight, she had sort of changed her mind and thought she'd just choose home ec. as her elective. We listed all the pros and cons out for her about joining band and she's decided to give it a try. We think socially band will be great for Sarah. We are hoping she'll fit in and be able to make a lot of friend in band. She has no musical genes flowing through her veins though, so I hope she catches on pretty quick. Doug says band is a huge commitment for kids, so we are relieved she didn't want to join athletics too.
So, soccer mom, track mom, cross country mom, band mom and *insert Daniel's school* mom. I told Doug that at some point, these activities will conflict and we'll be switching off nights, driving in opposite directions and it's only just begun. It WILL get worse before it gets better and just when we think it's over, there comes little Daniel to pick up where they all left off. Oh my, what were we thinking. Doug says heck we got 4 kids, what do you expect...heh...well at some point one of them will get their license and they can lug their own butt somewhere. Hmmm on second thought, we'll lug 'em around. Picturing Justin behind the wheel or worse yet, Sarah, argh, that just gives me the willies!
Normal?
Today while changing Daniel, I noticed he had a rash all over his tummy area. I checked him all over and it really was everywhere. I figured he was having a reaction to the medication for his ear infection, so I called the doctor's office. The nurse I spoke to reassured me it was perfectly normal for some babies to develop a rash with this medication. Funny, I've not seen it happen before. Oh well if it gets any worse or turns into hives, then we discontinue use and call back. Shrug.
The kids often sneak snacks. I'm sure they do it more often than we even notice. We catch them quite often though. I still remember the time I caught Justin with a cookie down the front of his pants. That was soo funny. He was doing something in the kitchen and I came out and when he turned around he had "that look". You know the one, same one the dogs get when I catch them with my panty hose in their mouths! So I said What are you dong?. I got the big "nothing". Uh huh. What do you got Justin? Big open shrug with guilt all over his face. I gave his shirt the ole pat down and there it was, a cookie safely tucked in the waist band of his pants. How funny!
Anyway...so tonight, I'm digging through all of my EXPENSIVE low carb treats that my wonderful husband has bought for me trying to tempt my tummy to see what I wanted. A few of the boxes have 6 treats in them and there are two boxes that I have not yet tried. Well one of those boxes has 5 in it now. You tell me...you think it might have got up and walked away on it's own eh? Oh I know, Dexter climbed up the cupboard and helped himself to JUST one. Heh.
I called the kids out not expecting any of them to own up to it, but to give them fair warning that I have every single one of those suckers counted and if I see one gone again, they're busted! Doug paid over $15 for some of those treats and with all the other shit they could eat/steal in this house, they'd better be leaving my stuff alone!!
February 10, 2004
Daniel's 6 mos WBC
Well I learned a couple of things today at Daniel's check up, but first let's do his stats...
Weight: 19 lbs 14 oz (75-95%)
Height: 29.5" (95%)
Head: 46 cm (95%)
His growth has slowed down, but he's still a big boy! Daniel's been really fussy for two days (and two nights). He will sleep on me, but once I lay him down, he wakes right up and fusses again. I figured he was teething, so I had been using Orajel and I had given him two doses of Motrin between the two days of fussiness. Turns out he's got an ear infection. !! We were shocked! It's bothering me that I thought he was teething because had we not had his WBC today, I probably wouldn't have taken him to the doctor's office (unless of course he actually had gotten worse). I would have just passed his irritability off as teething, like I was doing.
Last week he had a bit of a sore throat. He was hoarse sounding again. We gave him Triaminic twice and it seemed to have went away. Little did we know, it was just working itself into an ear infection. Luckily we did end up seeing the doctor when we did before it had gotten too bad. Sigh.
My poor little baby got FOUR shots today. What made it hard was we were in the middle of feeding him his bottle when the nurse came in, so we had to take it from him to get his shots. He did some wild crying during the shots, but he had already been fussing due to having his bottle taken from him. He refused his bottle after that. =( He'll have two shots at 9 months, 4 more at 12 months and 1 at 15 months, then he's done until he starts school.
I did get to talk to the doctor about Daniel's development and again he reassured me that he's perfectly fine. He did a few little tests of strength to show me that Daniel was perfectly fine. I think he humored me a bit when I explained to him how scared Daniel gets in his classes lately by telling me he's actually socially advanced if he's showing signs of separation anxiety already. Heh. Oh joy, my kid gets to be freaked out earlier than everyone else's. Gooo Daniel.
He told me that if Daniel is not crawling by 12 months, he'll worry a bit and if he's not walking by 18 months, then he'll worry, until then, he's doing just great! He also gave me the go ahead for more varieties of stage two food (including meats etc.) and juice. The juice should help with some of his hard poops. He said by age 9 months, I'd probably find Daniel preferring table foods.
So currently, let's see...Daniel eats 4 jars of Stage two foods per day. He drinks 4 - 6-8 oz bottles per day. He refuses rice cereal, which doc says that's perfectly fine because his formula has the iron he needs in it. I don't really need to introduce a breakfast for a couple of months. Doctor says by about 9 months, he'd want to be eating breakfast, dinner, supper and a snack into the mix. So I think we're okay for now. I think after we clear this infection up, we'll branch out to try some new stuff and see how he likes it. I see biscuits and juice in Daniel's near future!!
February 09, 2004
Take my own advice?
I recently gave some advice to a blogger friend about some concerns she was having over the development of her little guy. I wish I could take my own advice when I see stuff like what I saw yesterday. There is this little guy in Daniel's class, he is just two weeks younger than Daniel. A few weeks ago I happen to have noticed him sitting up all by himself. Daniel sits up with the help of a boppy pillow, but even then he's not keen on sitting up. He normally stiffens out so his body flops backwards.
Okay, so kids sit up at different ages. I shrugged it off. Well yesterday when I dropped Daniel off, there was this little guy standing up beside a little ice table they have set up. He actually holds himself up on things now AND I heard his mom say she just can't believe it but he'll walk all over the place holding their hands. Even though I try not to worry about Daniel's development, I can't help it when I see things like that every day. I've worried about him since he was only a few weeks old. I'm sure the doctor gets tired of all the concerns and questions. I always get the same reassurances, but geesh.
Daniel shows no interest in crawling or sitting yet. He barely ever tries to get around. If I put him down on his tummy, he normally rolls over pretty quickly, then just lays there kicking and making noise. He is just beginning to want to stand up on us in our laps and even then it's not very often. He just acts very lazy and has no interest. I would have thought curiousity about his surroundings would have gotten him moving by now. I guess the older he gets, the more noticeable it becomes by others that he's not moving around much. I get asked often if he's crawling yet etc. I always just say "nah, he's bein' lazy". I mean what should I say? I don't know, maybe he is just being lazy...but what if he's not?
He has another doctor's appointment tomorrow morning for his shots (weep!!) and again I'll be asking the doctor about his development. I know he's a big boy and a lot of people tell me that's why he's not mobile yet, but I don't know if I'm content with that answer anymore. I'll be sure to post tomorrow about how his check up went. I'll be glad when the shot series is over. Poor little guy, you'd think teething would be enough, but no, they have to poke him too!
February 08, 2004
Lowering my carbs
Oh might I brag for a moment? As of 'tis morning, I've lost 9 lbs just by lowering my carb intake. It all started when I read about Jayme and her weight loss journey doing Atkins. I got curious, so DH bought me the book to check out. I started lowering carbs around Jan. 26th or 27th? Gawd, I can't remember. It's been almost two weeks. I know I've not had two full weeks at work yet with my change in diet. I wish I had of written it down now. I just wasn't ready to "really" try, so I didn't pay attention. What I notice so far? I had headaches for the first few days (probably due to lack of sugar) and I don't feel as sad anymore.
I've not done induction yet (I'm pretty sure I will now, with these results). I've just cut my carbs as if I'm on induction. For those of you who don't know, induction is when all you eat is meat, eggs, cheese and 3 c of salad greens (or 2 c of greens and 1 c of low carb veggie) for two weeks. During those two weeks your carb intake is 20 g/day. After two weeks of induction, you may proceed to OWL (ongoing weight loss). You may increase your carb intake in increments of 5g or 10g, as long as you are still losing weight. If you find you stopped losing and started gaining, you have to lower your carb intake again.
I have tried to keep my carb intake at 20 or lower. I had one set back all during last week when we discovered we bought the wrong type of jello and I had been eating two tubs a day at 20g of carbs each (plus all my other food I was eating). The first package we had bought was sugar free and carb free, but we picked the wrong package up this time and I didn't notice it. This really upset me and it didnt' help matters that it was a stressful week at work too. Can you say cry baby? We got the right jello this week!
The big thing is what I eat compared to what I had been eating that's causing the weight loss I think. I eat meat, cheese, eggs, berries, nuts, salad greens, veggies and low carb treats. That's it. I'm anxious now to give induction a whirl.
I guess I'm just too cheap
I am having a hell of a time shopping lately. I have $90 on a gift card to Dillards as I've mentioned before. I have went twice looking for something and so far have come home with nothing but panties (five bucks each at that and they certainly aren't anything special). I decided because Sarah had outgrown most of her pants, I'd take her to Dillards, buy her clothes there with the gift card and find myself something at Khol's. Ha ha ha.
She's at the wonderful inbetween stage. A juinor med. is too small, a large is miles too big. A 16 girls is boderline too small as well. A ladies small in some things seems to fit in some styles. It's odd and we really had a tough time finding something that a) fit and b) she liked. What ever happened to just plain jogging pants? We found some track pants that looked okay. price? 150.00!!! Even Sarah gasped. What's up with that? We found some others that were 55.00, but even that I refused. We went to Khol's and gave up at Dillards. Sadly even at Kohl's, there wasn't a lot today.
Besides the crappy shopping today, we had a good weekend. I got a lot of cleaning done yesterday. This house really needed it. Mind you, I sit here looking around in just the computer room, you'd never know I even cleaned it. Sigh. Actually just for fun, I should take a picture of this mess. It really is pathetic. Nah, I tried, I can't fit it all in one shot, it's that spread out. I guess it'll only take a minute to tidy it back up. *yawns*
February 07, 2004
Saturday pictures
I thought I'd share some silly pictures with you from today.
Justin has been taking the dogs out for "walkies" all this week. He can only take one at a time, so the other poor pug is left at home waiting impatiently for their turn. Isabella has been barking at the door and pacing back and forth waiting for Justin to come back for her. Poor thing. She was scratching at the door as if she got left behind. Both pugs are used to going for walks together. Only this week have they been going with Justin alone, so it takes a bit for them to get used to it.
Here she is BEFORE the walk completely worked up, panting and smiling for the camera!
For the longest time, Daniel has had me worried about his development because he never would stand up on anyone. Most babies when you hold them will straighten their little legs right out in an attempt to stand up on your lap. Daniel always had frog legs, limp and dangley. Now mind you, put the child in his jolly jumper or exersaucer and bouncy, bouncy he goes.
Well he's finally wanting to stand up on our laps, so I got a shot of it.
Where does the time go? My child will be seven months old on Feb. 16. I could cry. He just didnt' stay little long enough. I realized how much he's grown tonight as I watched him play in his bouncy chair. We seldomly use this chair anymore for obvious reasons, he's just too damn big for it now, but once every other day or so, he gets antzy, so we plop him in it for a change of scenery. I remember when he first went in his little chair, the toys looked miles away from him. Then I remember when we had to take the little teething rings off of it because when he'd kick, the toys would swing so far and hard that the little rings would hit him in the face and NOW...those toys look tiny compared to him. He can yank on them all to his heart's content. Here are a couple of comparison shots. I just love those!
Look at him here, he's just three weeks old in this shot.
Here is in this shot kicking it back with his legs all stretched out being a lazy six and half month old cutie!
Sarah's secret
Doug took the boys out for their typical Saturday run (tournament, library, eat, park and Sam's Club). Sarah and I stayed home to clean the house (she of course was home because of her behavior this week with Justin). We had a productive day. Sarah and I chatted all day and made up a little game called "Ask Away". We took turns asking each other questions and had to tell the truth! It was fun and it made chore time go by quickly, plus I'm sure we learned a lot about one another.
I'll share what I learned about her, but I'm sure if she ever reads this she's going to kill me. She made me promise never to tell her secret and not even to "that mommie board I read", she said. One of my questions to her was "if you couldn't be a writer (like she wants to be) when you grow up, what would you do instead?" After a minute of insisting I not laugh at her, she said a children's movie director. I said there was nothing funny about that and I thought it would be great if that's what she wanted to do.
She then says "Do you want to know a secret?" Duh, all mommies want to know secrets. I said "sure". So after a minute of promises, she tells me she's been writing a children's movie! She has it titled and everything. She says she hasn't had a lot of time lately to work on it, but that she has been for a long time. She's even written songs for it and has one of them memorized. She brought it out to me and sure enough, it's a page long. This is the same child that hates homework and writing.
Amazes me the things that a parent doesn't know about their child. She's been writing for months. Writing is a wonderful thing, as is reading. I'm proud of her. We had a good day and a long chat.
February 04, 2004
Tell me...
why the hell is low carb foods so damn expensive? I don't get it. My hubby bought me low carb chocolate bars and peanut butter cups last night at the store. He paid almost 6 freaking dollars for 6 TINY peanut butter cups and 6 SKINNY bars. They're good. I'll give them that, but shit! Expensive. My experience so far with some new foods is that low carb food tastes MUCH better than low fat food, by far!
I'm blowing this all to shit anyway. I've not "kicked" my sugar addiction at all because all I'm doing is loading up on low carb sweets. I've not done induction and I suppose I'm going to need to...soon.
On a different topic, Daniel slept completely through the night last night, not even a soother wake up. (where is that :woot smiley!) He slept through the night when he was younger up until about Christmas time. Then he got sick and started waking up through the night and has ever since. As a matter of fact, just this past weekend, I thought I was going to go nuts, he was waking up every twenty minutes for that damn soother. Then here we go, night before last, woke up ONCE at 1:30 a.m, then last night, nothing...slept right through for almost 12 hours. Wow. I'm in heaven. He is, however, starting to get another cold. His throat sounds sore. Poor little guy.
Dexter pissed on Bella again tonight. Geesh we hate that. She goes outside, squats to pee, he runs right over and lifts his leg on her. Ghrrrrr. That's two baths this week for her. I made Doug bath her tonight. Gah, I just wasn't in the mood to do it. I already bathed one critter tonight!
Well I have work to do tonight that I brought home. (insert rolling eyes here). I'm so sick of being busy. This time of year really bites. I'll leave you with two questions...
1. If your child was a bully, what would you do? How would you handle it?
2. If you discovered that babies crying and making loud noises scared your infant, what would you do?
Night all.
February 03, 2004
Sucker for punishment!
ARGH!!! Those chocolate chip cookies that I baked are SCREAMING "Eat Me"!!
Picture is nice and big so you can really appreciate what I'm going through!
I'm dying. Why did I torture myself when I'm trying to be soo good? I've been completely tormented by these damn cookies ever since I stupidly made them yesterday. I hope my dear hubby enjoys them because it'll be the last batch in a long time unless he finds me some really good low carb cookies! *runs off pouting and hungry for SUGAH*