Night and Day from Hell....

Friday was the first day of our yard sale and it went really well! I was extremely exhausted though Friday night. We went to Jasons vollyball game and then went to Thips Thai for dinner, because I was to tired to cook. I got Pad Thai and a Thai ice tea and all of us split an order of crab rangoon. After we finished eating I started to not feel good. I thought maybe I had just eaten to much and needed to digest it a bit. That was not the case. We came home and I was feeling like CRAP....I had major stomach pain and back pain. I tried to sleep but it was very difficult, it felt like something was eating the inside of my stomach and that was causing back pain from my lower back all the way up to my shoulder blades....Not fun. it hurt to lay down, it hurt to sit up....frankly it just hurt. I hurt more than Labor when I had the boys. Needless to say I did not sleep very well last night. This morning, I got up and showered. I stepped out of the shower and asked Jason to get me some OJ (the only thing that calms my stomach) and before he could put his feet on the floor I was over the toilet vomiting. My stomach was still in knots and my back was hurting even more because I did not sleep well.
I mosey on over to the garage sale and still feel like crap, but for those of you who know me being sick was not going to stop me. It should but it didn't. I help get the yard sale going and then just sit down manning the money station, all the while enduring the excruciating pain. Finally around noon I was starting to break down because I was in sooooo much pain, and my friends finally convinced me to go lay down and they were going to call Jason. Because I wouldn't....Do you think I'm stubborn? Jason get's there a little after 2:00 and takes me to the ER. While there they did some blood work and took a urine sample. While we were waiting for the lab to process everything they gave me a shot to ease the pain. I felt like a NEW woman! The pain was gone and I was able to relax. Exhaustion soon set in. The doc finally comes back and says that My gallbladder levels were elevated. So they diagnosed me with abdominal irritability and possible gall-stones. They put me on a NO dairy, fat, creamy, spicey diet and told me eat lots of fiber to clean all my systems. They also prescribed me Tylenol with codeine in it.
I am supposed to follow up with my doc on Monday or Tuesday. They are still going to do the ultra-sounds of my kidneys to make sure I don't have kidney stone....I hope not...
SOOO needless to say I think the Thai food put me over the edge, I guess my body can't handle certain things right now.

Anyways, please pray that this diet will help clear things out and that the pain goes away, because it is so unbearable. I must say that through all this Jason and the boys did great! They helped me out a lot and Bo is very good at empathy! I love my boys and my Husband!

13 weeks

Today marks 13 weeks! Overall I am feeling a ton better, aside from being tired, which probably won't go away. LOL. (TMI) I got the results from the UTI lab that was done and everything came back normal! YAY! My doctor wants to do another ultra-sound to see if there is anything that could be causing the cramping that I have been having. At my last doctors appointment she had to use ultra-sound to find the baby's heart beat and everything was looking fine then, so she expects things will be fine now. If everything is A-OK then she wants to do and ultra-sound of my kidneys and make sure I don't have a kidney stone. I have never had one but that just sound horrible. Another possibility is constipation, which I have had a lot of. UGH....She did prescribe me some collace to see if that helps, we'll see. Hopefully that's what is causing the cramping. She just wants to be on the safe side and do the other ultra-sounds. I am not going to complain, cuz that means I get to see baby!

Anyways, I am still down almost 6 pounds. I have really been watching my diet and trying to be good. Now that doesn't mean I don't indulge in some of my craving, because I totally do. If I do then I just know, that if I have taco bell for lunch then we are having salads for dinner, or grilled chicken and broccoli ect... I am very happy with my diet, I feel like I am getting the right amount of vitamins and nutrients, while still maintaining my weight!

Well that about does is it for this post. I will be busy with the yard sale all weekend and then we are hanging out with some friends on Saturday night, who are moving next week. So it will be a busy weekend! Ta ta for now!

Mothering frustrations...

I recently read this post about loosing the joy in mothering and it really hit home for me. I have been feeling that lately. I get so frustrated sometimes because I feel like things don't get done because I have been chasing after the boys all day cleaning up the stuff they manage to get into. For instance, literally 10 minutes ago I was on the phone with my friend Tami talking about yard sale stuff and I wasn't on the phone with her but maybe 5 minutes and I here Bo say "Oh NOOoooo" I get off the phone and walk into the kitchen and Joel had taken the box of tea bags I had in the pantry and opened them all up and there is Bo with my swiffer mop trying to mop it up without a pad on it. So now I have wet sticky tea and tea bags all over my kitchen floor. I tell the boys to go sit on the couch while I swept the mess up and then ran the mop to clean up any excess cleaner. It took me maybe 5 minutes to get it all cleaned up. I go back into the living room to "Chat" with the boys and there they were sitting in a huge pile of Cheezit crackers....Yup they took the box and dumped it on the living room floor, where sitting in the pile and breaking the crackers up. I just sat on the couch and started crying. It was all so overwhelming.

Things like this happen allllllll the time and I do not know how to get in control of it. I have tried every trick in the book and nothing seems to work. They do this with everything...my make-up, fresh fruit, bread, games, movies, things in the pantry and even their dresser drawers. Now some of you may be thinking that I should put these things away and keep them out of reach of the boys. Well, I do. My make up is in a trunk on my bathroom counter, Fruit and bread are in containers on the kitchen counters, they open their dresser drawers and just pull clothes and blankets out (why? I have no idea) Movies are in a Cd type case in a drawer in the living room and yet they still seem to get into everything. When things like this happen, I get overwhelmed and once I fall behind in keeping things picked up I get even more overwhelmed and then don't know where to start with the mess and I just shut down. I know that shutting down doesn't help anything...When that happens is where I need to stop and deal with that selfishness. I struggle with that for sure and sometimes don't know how to move forward...Only by the Grace of God do I move forward and eventually pick things up again.

I do love being a stay at home mom, I just wish I knew how to manage and deal with the chaos when things like this happen, because I KNOW they are GOING to happen. It is just a matter of being prepared, patient and staying ahead of the game.

Spring Cleaning!

Today I woke up really tired, I even went to bed a little earlier than I usually do but I was still tired and had no motivation to do anything. Last night Jason and I worked on folding all the clean laundry, which was about 7 or 8 loads that we got washed over the past two days! So this morning I put it all in laundry baskets and now it is ready to be taken up stairs and be put away. I took a few things upstairs on my way to go shower and while I was in my room I was like "man I really need to dust". See, Joel somehow managed to rip the curtain rod out of our wall so my curtains were sitting there needing to be hung back up, so I had a ton of sunlight coming into my room and it showed me that probably 2 or 3 months worth of dust was waiting to be cleaned. So I grabbed my rag and windex and went to work. Once I got done dusting and cleaning off the dresser and end tables I changed the linens, put some clothes away and went through a few more things for the yard sale. So now my room is all shinny and clean! I just need to vacuum and bring the yard sale stuff down to the garage. My hope is that tonight, while Jason is working at the Blues game, I can focus on finishing that up and then get to work on pricing garage sale stuff. I am going to make it a goal to not go anywhere, turn the tv on, or "play" on the computer till I get this stuff accomplished!
So here is my list to do tonight and this weekend: (Hopefully I can do most of it tonight)
vacuum bedroom
bring yard sale stuff to the garage
finish putting away laundry
straighten up my bathroom
price yard sale stuff
and of course I need to do the dishes!

Things that need spring cleaning:
the boys closets
the guest room
the linen closet
kitchen appliances
front of kitchen cupboards
wash door handles and windows
(I hope to be working on these over the weekend and next week as well!)

What are some things that you do for Spring cleaning? Do you have any tips or tricks that you use?

Anyways, if you don't see me online very much over the next few days that means I am getting things in order around the house (which is good for me) and you should just call or text me if you need to get a hold of me!
Ta Ta for now!

12 Weeks!

So I will officially be 12 weeks and into my second trimester tomorrow! Wahoo! I am slowly but surely starting to feel better, but I am still tired a lot. I had my first doctors appointment on Tuesday and I have had a couple of ahha and Duh moments to fasten your seat belts this may be a long post....=)

I know last week I posted on having a lot of ear pain and pressure and headaches and eye pain ect...Well last week we went to Subway for dinner and as we were sitting there I had a major DUH moment. I asked Jason and realized that all the pain that I was having with my head is probably due to the stupid root canal that I need to have done. I mean come on I have an exposed nerve in my mouth....Duh... I had a filling fall out last November and due to the holiday schedule, traveling and a bunch of other stuff I was not able to get into the dentist until mid January. I told them that a filling fell out and I needed it fixed. They wanted me to come in for a standard cleaning and then go from there. So I did and thats when the doc said it would be easier to do a root canal and crown to keep it from happening again in the future. So I then scheduled an appointment for February, but in the process I found out I was pregnant and they had to wait until I could get the approval from my doc in order to do it....Good news My doctor says I can have it done! Thank the Lord! Hopefully that will take care of all the pain and pressure. So until I can get in, more like come up with the $600, floss is my new best friend, I carry it with me everywhere!

I had my first doctors appointment on Tuesday! It was really long...I was there for almost 3 hours. I am very happy to report that I am down almost 6 pounds! Which I am sooo stoked about. I am really trying hard to manage my food portions and what I eat in general. Like I have said before I drink a LOT of water and tea, so that is really helping with my craving/binge control. I am really hoping to gain no more than 10 pounds the whole pregnancy. The doctor I saw I really liked, she was down to earth, really nice, listened to what I had to say and overall encouraging! So I am for sure staying with her until we move. (TMI Alert) As with a first appointment they did a pap, full exam and a breast exam. Ugh. Glad that is over. I also talked to the doc about the abdominal pains that I have been having and she was concerned that I may have a UTI (urinary tract infection) So I had to take a test. It came back with a little blood in my urine so they sent it off to the lab to be cultured. I should here back tomorrow with the results. So I will keep you posted on that. Overall the appointment went well. Baby's heartbeat is strong and looking good! I have another appointment in 4 weeks.
I have an ultrasound photo that I will upload tomorrow.

I am very much a go, go, go person. I always seem to be doing something. That is not always a good thing. I think I have posted about this problem before? I always seem to feel ok in the morning and early afternoon, but once 2:00 or 3:00 roll around I am beat. I physically can't get things done unless I take a nap, so I have been indulging in a nap almost everyday. Then I get an energy boost around dinner time (unless I didn't get a nap) and then around 7:00 I am done. My problem, for sure, right now is time management. I need to learn to work around what my body is telling me and adjust to this new schedule. How long this schedule will last I don't know. I would hope not the whole pregnancy but ya just never know. I feel really overwhelmed right now with my list of things to do and get done. I am getting ready for a yard sale next weekend and I have piles of stuff all over my house that are for the yard sale but I don't know where to put everything. My pile of yard sale stuff in the garage is Gigantic and I can't add more to it. So i guess there are some positives...I am getting rid of stuff, We are downsizing for our move in August, hopefully this means my house will be easier to maintain! The down side is a very cluttered looking house for the next week and a half. I figured it will all be worth it in the end. SO FYI, if you stop by my house the next week and half it will probably look like a tornado came through....=) I have a few ideas that I have gotten from a few different friends that i am going to work on putting into motion this week to help "maintain" a clean house...well at least LOOK clean. Like I am going to put toilet bowl cleaner behind each toilet, so that when I notice it is looking dingy I can take the 2 minutes and swish it around and just keep it clean. I LOVE my Swiffer mop! My floors are cleaner in general all the time! plus it is fun to use! I have already put into motion the whole toy system, which I think I have already posted about. It is going well! I am not drowning in toys all the time! I am designating a drawer in this buffet thing we have by our front door for things that need to go upstairs, if it doesn't fit in the drawer it gets taken up right away. My hope is that between Jason and I we can empty it at the end of the day, but more than likely it will probably be once or twice a week. We'll see. But I am tired of things getting piled up that need to go upstairs, cuz they always seem to sit there for 1-10 days. depends on what it is.
I definitely feel like there are times I always fail in keeping up with the house. In some cases I have realized that the bathrooms are still going to be there tomorrow, cuz I don't want to miss out on things with the boys. It's a balancing act for sure, but I guess I am struggling right now though, esp...when I have a limited window of time to get things done right now. If I try to do to much, I break down emotionally, usually because I am so exhausted. I honestly think that once I can get all this "extra" stuff out of my house for the yard sale that it will help a lot with everything. I just need to make it through this next week. Nothing is coming back into my house after the yard sale, whatever doesn't sell will ALL be donated. Less stuff=less stuff to put away and clean!

Well those are my thoughts for this week. I hope that made sense...Sorry again for the long post I tend to ramble. =)

Rough Night...

For about a week now I have been feeling great, Tired, but at least I am not sick. Yesterday I felt good again and I was able to get some stuff done. I did the dishes, picked up the living room, washed a load of laundry, and I worked on a baby blanket all afternoon. When dinner time rolled around I just grilled up some Chicken breasts and added them to a Zatarans rice mix. While I was cooking my stomach was making some loud rumbling noises, I was sooo hungry. Well we sit down to eat and all of a sudden nothing that I made sounded good, so I only had a few bites of rice and like a half cup of green beans.

Jason had a volleyball game last night and he left around 7. While he was gone I went down hill and fast. I was sitting down to check my email and out of the blue I had this sharp pain run through my right ankle. On a scale of 1-10 it was a 10. I have never felt anything like it. Then I started getting a lot of pressure built up behind my ear and that then caused me to get a headache behind my right eye and it felt like someone was pressing on my eye and it was going to pop out. My heart was also pounding, I had tingling all over my body and my feet and hands and arms would fall asleep. Whenever I get the pressure in my head the right side of my neck gets really tense and sore as well. Between the pressure, headache, and ankle pain I was miserable. I was even crying. I didn't know what was causing it, or how to get rid of it or what I should do. When Jason got home at 8:30 he noticed i was in a lot of pain, but there really wasn't anything that he could do. He told me to go take a hot bath. So I did. I lit candles and shut the lights off so I could relax. I just laid in the tub and soaked for like 45 minutes. Soaking in the tub helped with the pressure and headache. But my ankle would not stop hurting. I was trying to think of what I could have done, but all I did all day was make sew, and do the dishes. So I still have no idea what could have caused that. The ankle pain went on for about another hour. I finally took some tylonal and that helped a little.
While I was sitting there I realized I was really hungry, I thought back to what I ate all day,
Breakfast: a bowl of kashi cereal with milk, Lunch: a cheese and turkey Quesadilla, Snack: Sweet Tea, Dinner: a few bites of rice and some green beans. All in all I didn't eat very much and I started wondering if that would have anything to do with my blood sugar and the tingling and pounding heart? I don't know, I am going to look it up on Web MD. Anyways, I went and had a bowl of cereal and I drank some more water. I started to feel a little better. I also only drank 1 liter of water when I usually drink 3 liters.
Today I feel tired and worn out. I am going to take it easy today drink lots of water and remember to eat. I have some stitching to on the baby blanket and I have a lot of ribbon that needs to be organized, so I am going to work on that today.
I am just curious if any of you have ever had anything like that happen to you during a pregnancy? I have my first doctors appointment next Tuesday and I am for sure going to talk about it with her it just doesn't seem normal.

Almost 10 weeks...

I know it hasn't been a week since I posted but I had a few things I wanted to share.

With this pregnancy I have not been able to drink any sort of pop or anything sweet. The taste is really weird and just the thought of eating or drinking these things just makes me want to hurl. Now I am not saying this is a bad thing. It will probably help me out a TON with my goal to not gain to much weight. All that to say I have been drinking a lot of tea, water, and the occasional coffee. Well yesterday I think I drank mostly tea, a grape slushie, and like 2 glasses of water. Last night however, I felt like total crap, I couldn't sleep, my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, my fingers and face and feet were all tingling and I felt like it wouldn't go away. As I lay in bed at 1:30 in the morning I figured that all this was caused by my lack of water the previous day. Normally it would not have affected me but I seriously think that part of the reason I feel crappy is not enough water. This morning after I peed I could for SURE tell I was completely dehydrated. Today I found out that I need to double my water intake then that of the normal amount of 64 oz. HOLY MOLY that is a lot of water.....but again it will make me less hungry and less likely to munch in the afternoon. So I guess it's a win win situation here!

Overall I have felt really good the past couple of days. I was able to clean my bathroom today!!! YAY I don't even want to tell you how bad it was. I also got the 2 baskets of the boy's clothes put away, I pulled out all their summer clothes and added them to their closets. I was able to go through the time consuming things like make up and jewelry. I tossed old stuff and anything that was still mostly full or in good condition I added to the garage sale pile. It took me awhile to go through those things because I always seem to have a plethera of both make-up, bath products and jewelry. But I feel so much better having gone through them. It's all about purging!!!!

I have noticed that I can't really lift anything heavy, not because I lack the strength to lift it but because I get weird pains on my upper belly and they kind of shoot down the side of my abdomen to make sort of a C shape. So I figure I will just ask Jason to help me move and lift anything heavier than a laundry basket and not try to be Super Woman and end up hurting myself.

Towards the end of this week I can finally call and schedule my first doctors appointment! Hopefully I can talk to her about my sinus issues if they haven't cleared up on their own by then. I also want to make sure that the stomach pains I have are nothing more serious. I doubt it but I just want to make sure.

Anyways, I think that is it for now. I will officially be 10 weeks on Thursday! Tune in next week for an update.

Pregnancy blogging...

Ok I am going to attempt to blog about this pregnancy. With Bo and Joel I tried to keep a calendar and I would forget to write things down adn then I would end up guessing. So I figured that since I am on the computer a lot that this may be an easier way to keep track of things. Be advised I am not afraid to share things so I will use (TMI Alerts) if i think something may To Much Information for some of you! So here we go!

TMI-First Towards the middle of February I realized that I was five days late from when I should have started my period. I didn't think to much of it because I had been irregular since having Joel. I guess my body had trouble getting readjusted to a normal schedule. Then I noticed I was feeling really tired so I went and bought a pregnancy test. I got home and I expected it to be negative because they all have been in the past. As I am waiting I am holding my breath cuz I start seeing two lines.....I was like NO WAY.....REALLY. I was totally shocked and excited! I was so excited I couldn't calm down. It felt like it was my first pregnancy. I immediately started planning on how I was going to tell Jason, I had about an hour before he was due home from work. I thought about calling him at work, about sending him a hint email, about buying a cute little outfit....but none of them seemed right. So when he got home he dropped his stuff off in the living room where I was sitting and then went into the kitchen to get a drink. I then gave the test to Bo and told him to go give it to daddy. There was silence from the kitchen and a second later Jason walks back into the living room with a smile on his face and says "What is this?" Needless to say he was speechless and excited. We were both sitting there and were like....this is crazy....is it for real! I took a second test just to be sure and it came back positive as well!
We then discussed when we should tell people. Bo's birthday party was a little over two weeks away and my parents and Jason's parents were going to be there so we thought that would be perfect. I want you guys to know that keeping this a secret for two weeks was SOOOOO hard for me. Jason's dad Mike was here visiting and I was feeling sick while he was here and I was trying to hide it...I don't think I did a very good job. LOL

Well on Thursday March 4th, I had a dating ultrasound scheduled because I didn't know how far along I was. It was also the day that both sets of parents were arriving. So I totally made up a "Fake" doctors appointment to get my sinuses checked out so that no one would suspect anything. After talking with Jason we decided that we would tell our parents that night and the rest of the world on Saturday. I get home and and everyone asks how my appointment went and I said "The Doctor says I am Due October 21st" They all stop and were like....uh What.....What did you say. Then I reveal the ultrasound picture!

My dad was on his computer and right away facebooks it before I can tell him to wait. So then I feel like I need to post something so that people find out from me! So the whole idea of telling people on Saturday went out the window. Oh well!

So now I am 9 weeks and the past two weeks have been rough for me. I have been really nauseous, tired and just completely drained. I seriously layed on the couch for like 5 days straight and did nothing other than the basic feeding and changing the boys. and when I say nothing I mean NOTHING...Jason really picked up a lot of the slack by doing the dishes and taking out the garbage and feeding the boys dinner so that I could sleep.

Yesterday and today I have been feeling a lot better!! Wahoo. I took all our Laundry to the Laundromat so that I could get it all caught up, I have been working on getting things ready for a garage sale, and just trying to catch up on some basic things that need to be cleaned.

I will eventually start posting prego pictures but for now I will spare you cuz it just looks like I am getting Fatter than I already am... Although I am down 2 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight! My belly is starting to pop slightly and I just switched to maternity pants even though I could still button my regular jeans they were uncomfortable when I would sit down.

Anyways, sorry for the long post. In the future they won't be so long but I felt like I had to tell the whole finding out story! I think I want to try posting once a week, so be on the look out if you want to follow my journey!

NEW Pampered Chef Products and Catalog!!!!

I am so EXCITED to share with you the NEW products that Pampered Chef has to offer
To kick off the NEW Catalog I will be doing a VIRTUAL "MYSTERY HOST" party!
Here are just a few of the NEW products!!!!

ALL you have to do to join in the fun is Enter Mystery Host as the Host name on my website

Browse the NEW catalog, make your purchase, and you will be entered to win the Host benefits!Receive:
1 ticket for every $10 order
10 tickets for hosting a March or April cooking show
5 tickets for hosting a catalog show
15 tickets for starting your own Pampered Chef Business

I will be closing the Virtual Mystery Host Party on March 10th. I will announce the winners via email or phone call! I will also post the winners right here on my blog!

Remember in March with a $60 purchase you will receive a 3 piece set of bamboo spoons or spatulas!!!

Happy Shopping and Good luck!!!!

Pampered Chef Incentive!

February and March are huge incentive months for me with the Pampered Chef, so to help me reach those goals I am offering some big incentives for you! If you can help me out that would be awesome. Pick which incentive you would like and either leave a comment on this post, send me an email or give me a call! Thanks!!! Now for the fun stuff:

1) Have you ever wanted to start your own business? Well from now until February 28th The Pampered chef is offering a 50% kit rebate. The full start up kit is normally $155 but you can get the same kit for half the price. That makes it $77.50! How awesome is that! Plus get an extra special gift from me!

2) The February Host special is Fabulous. The top 10 "Host Favorite Items" are 60% off, some of which include the Stainless Steel Cookware, The Complete Knife set, The Stainless steel mixing bowls, The Ultimate Mandoline, The non- stick grill pan and several more! All you have to do is collect $150 in orders...how easy is that!

3) If you host a cooking show or catalog show in February or March with $350 in sales or more, I will personally give you one stoneware item of your choice for free!!! and YES that includes the deep covered baker!!!! An even BIGGER YES is that is in addition to all your free product, discounts and host specials!!!

4) Not interested in hosting a show? Place any $40 order and receive $10 free!!! Place any $100 order and receive $20 free!!! How sweet is that. Stock up now for those upcoming birthdays, house warming parties, anniversaries, Mothers Day, Fathers Day and even Christmas! Just a reminder in February all unglazed stoneware is 20% off, and in March with a $60 order you will receive a 3 piece bamboo spoon set free!

Thanks again in advance for your help! I really hope you enjoy and take advantage of these specials I have going right now! I am thrilled to be your Pampered Chef consultant!!!

Andrea Bindewald
618-406-9478
www.pamperedcjef.biz/abindewald
ajbindewald@gmail.com

To Cute!

My friend Laura and I were out and about doing some shopping on Saturday and we were both blessed with only having to bring one child with us. I brought Bo and she brought Violet, who is the same age as Bo. While sitting at Chipotle both kids were being really good, eating there food. Bo then takes his cup of sour cream and offers it to Violet to dip her chip in. It went something like this.....

Bo " Here violet....want some"
Violet "Ok, thanks"
Bo "you're welcome"
Smiles and giggles

Me "Awe, you guys are being so nice to each other......(to laura.....maybe they'll get married?=))
Laura to Violet "Violet do you want Bo to be your prince?"
Violet "YEAH!!!!"
Bo "ok"

Steak Gorgonzola!

YUM! Can I say again YUM!!!! I have been getting almost if not all of my meal ideas from this blog that I am absolutely in love with. Well Monday night Italian food sounded really good and I remembered that one of the meals on my list was Penne Gorgonzola! Score! Well the recipe called for chicken but I was craving steak so Jason fired up the grill and made to delicious fillets! While he was doing that I worked on the pasta. Here is the recipe ! It was sooooo easy to make and it was soooo good! I almost always get the steak Gorgonzola when we go to the olive garden, and I think this recipe even tops that! I would however recommend measuring out the Gorgonzola cheese, it calls for 5oz and my package was 8 ounces and I just eye balled it and though it was still really yummy, I could tell there was a little to much of it in there. I think next time I make it I am going to add red peppers and maybe some broccoli.

If you have some time look around on the eat at home cooks blog! You will find some great recipes. Jason and I would highly recommend the Peanut Butter and Jelly muffins! They are so good! Enjoy!!!

Potty Training...

This past weekend Jason and I really focused on Bo and his potty training. I am happy to report that I think he has got it a good handle on it! He came to us on Saturday morning and wanted to go potty, so he went and we put underwear on him. He kept them dry all morning and afternoon. He even kept them dry all through his nap. Saturday night we had several friends over and I think there were 7 kids running around the house and he still kept his pants dry up until everyone started leaving, then he had is first accident. But hey only one accident, I can live with that.

On Sunday he had a diaper on during Church but then he was in underwear the rest of the day, again he kept them dry through his nap and for the whole day except during dinner he had a accident, because we forgot he was wearing underwear and while we were eating he asked to go potty and we said he had to finish eating first....oops now I have to remember he is wearing big boy underwear and can't hold longer than a minute or two.

Today he has been doing great as well, no accidents yet! Now he has not gone #2 yet on the potty, I think he might be holding it in cuz he has not gone in his underwear either, but once I put his diaper on for bed within like 10 minutes he has a poopy diaper. So we need to work on that but hey Bo is making huge progress and I am so happy and proud of him!

weight-loss update...

I know I have failed at posting about my weight-loss fails and successes since I started back in Ohhhh October? Well here is an update on some things that worked and some that didn't.
First Jason and I joined the YMCA back in October. We also invested into some good cookbooks, workout apparel, Shoes, and food journals.

**Let me start off by saying to be effective in your workouts having the right gear is essential, Esp. Shoes. Spend the money and get a good pair of shoes.

Initially when we started this whole thing, we were writing everything we ate down. We were working out on average 3 days a week at the Y and doing a lot of Low fat foods. Now let me expand on what worked and what didn't here. First of all I found that writing things down worked for me initially to help me realize how much I was really eating. After a few weeks though, I found my self eating things just to fill my calorie count for the day and I was not necessarily hungry. I was thinking that if I had calories left for the day I might as well use them. However I think that hindered my weight loss a little. So Now I do not write things down but I do take more time when it comes to menu planning and using a lot of fresh veggies and fruit.

Second, we tried doing a lot of low fat foods or fat free foods. In the end it is disgusting. I found it harder for the body to process the fat free foods esp. when it came to anything dairy. So we will not be doing that anymore. Plus if you think about it there is probably more junk in the fat free stuff that will hinder weight loss than if you were just to eat a smaller portion of the normal healthy versions.

Third, going to the gym is proving to be more difficult that I originally thought. I HATE working out, however when I do I feel good after all is said and done. Up until Jason's job got really crazy with long weird hours we were going together 3 days a week. I have not been going regularly since about the middle of November. I have done the occasional day or two but nothing consistent.
Now since I am not working out regularly I need to be watching what I eat. A friend sent me this website, which I think I posted last week, and I have found it to an absolute life saver. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it! Eat at home cooks! Try it! Also with Jason working long hours I have found that I am eating less in the evenings because I am not make huge meals. PORTION SIZE, PORTION SIZE, PORTION SIZE! I started serving dinner on our salad plates instead of the huge dinner plates. I eat less and yet I am satisfied. I also don't eat breakfast, I know there are those of you who will say that is the wrong thing to do, but I am not a big breakfast person. On average I will eat breakfast 3 days a week, and even then it is usually a piece of toast, a granola bar or a bowl of high fiber organic cereal. I almost always have a small glass of juice and a cup of coffee with creamer. Hey it works for me and if I weren't seeing results I wouldn't do it. For lunch I usually eat a deli sandwich, quesadilla, salad, mac and cheese or leftovers. I always have a snack mid afternoon of either popcorn, a handful of candy (for my sweet tooth), whole grain crackers and swiss cheese or pita chips and salsa. I have been making our dinners from the menus on the above website! I drink water, coffee, diet coke and tea a lot. I also love the Hansens sodas and sparkling juices from Trader Joe's! Trader Joe's is my new prefferred grocery store!

One more thing that has helped me is that I am staying busy around the house. I have made a chore chart for myself and I am doing a lot more moving, cleaning, going up and down stairs, and playing with the boys! Now if I can just get ahead and start fresh with all the chores and upkeep then it would be a lot easier. I am really going to tackle the cleaning, organizing and chore cart this coming week. I need to finish the upstairs.....No it is not done yet but I am managing to do a little bit each day. It will get there!

So since the week before Thanksgiving I am proud to say I have lost a total of 14.2 pounds! I have one pair of jeans that actually still fits and all the others are really loose and I have to keep pulling them up and I get the saggy crotch after wearing them for like 10 minutes. I have lost most of the weight in my legs, neck, and a little in my waist/breast area. I would really like to loose another 10 pounds in my waist/stomach in the next month. I am going to TRY and get to the gym at least 2 times a week to do some biking and ab workouts. My ultimate goal is to loose a total of 75 pounds, but I am setting small goals to help me get there otherwise I get overwhelmed and tend to give up. So the small goal would be another 10 pounds by valentines day. I think that would be enough to justify buying a smaller pair of jeans. After that I would like to loose another 30 pounds by July 3, my birthday! Because Jason has told me that once I loose 50 pounds he will give me a $1000 for a new wardrobe! Wouldn't that be an awesome birthday present!

I know this has been a long post but thank you for reading. Let me know your thoughts, ideas and suggestions. Also, what has worked for you when it comes to house upkeep, weight-loss, working out and eating well?

Chore Chart...

This afternoon when I had a free minute I searched online for a chore chart that could help keep me on track to get things done. I Found one that I liked but I didn't want to pay for it. So I changed a few things by adding chores that are unique to me and mt family and this is what I came up with! I am hoping that this will work for me.

Take a look Here

Let me know what you think. The Check boxes are missing, they didn't copy over to Google Documents but you get the gist!

Renewed energy and a cool website!

So today I took the challenge of setting the timer for 1 hour and getting as much cleaning done as I can get done in that hour. I must admit once the hour was up I still kept working, which is great! I was able to vacuum and edge my living room, clean out and re-organize my TV cabinet, put a new box of diapers away, pick up all the toys, and hang up a few jackets. Then I moved to the kitchen, I did the dishes, organized my spice cupboard and coffee cupboard, cleaned off the counter tops and I made dinner and got that in the oven! I felt so much better after I got that all done. I still have to do about 5 loads of laundry tonight so that I can pack our bags tomorrow for our trip, but other then that I am going to read my book tonight! I think the 1 or 2 hours a day is something that I can keep up with!

As for this cool website, My girlfriend Tiffanie sent me this awesome website that I totally fell in love with after browsing it for about 5 minutes. It is called eatathomecooks.com. This mom plans out a weeks worth of dinners and puts together the recipes, shopping list, side suggestions and even a dessert! Plus within each meal she has some of the recipes that are for the slow cooker, others you make two of so that you can put one in the freezer for later that week of to portion out for lunches. Also, what I like about her site is that she uses a lot of fresh, natural, healthy ingredients. I think she has about 30 weeks of menus planned. It is so easy all you do is open up the menu that you want to use, print it off and then go shopping! Talk about easy!
If you choose to use this site, let me know what you think!

I am going chopping tomorrow! So I will let you know how it goes!

Staying on task...

Thanks Karen for giving me the idea for this post! I am trying to figure out a routine/organizer/time management/schedule for everything that I have to do around the house. My question for everyone out there is what are some things/tools that you use to stay on top of everything that needs to get done. Everything from feeding the cat, doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms, meal planning, date nights, bathroom cleaning, play time with the boys and relaxation. Do you set one day aside for laundry or do you do a load everyday? Do you clean all three bathrooms in one day or again space them out? Set specific times each day for relaxing, cleaning, cooking, playing etc....?

I am trying, and failing I might add, at finding a way to manage everything at the same time.
Karen, my sister-in-law, gave me the idea that I should set a timer for an hour and do whatever i can in that hour. Or maybe I will do that twice a day once in the morning and once in the afternoon? So I figured I would try it starting tomorrow!

I make all these lists of things that need to get done and yet nothing seems to get done even though I am working on them? I am also known, at least when it comes to things around the house, for saying that I am going to get something done today and then by the end of the day it is only partially done or not at all. Then I get frustrated and then Jason gets frustrated and that is just not good. So any and all ideas are welcome and hopefully I can get into some kind of routine that works and will stick.

Playing with flour!

The other day I was doing dishes and the boys were "helping" me load the dish washer. At one point the door bell rang and Bo & I went to answer it. In the time it took me to go answer the door and get back to the kitchen, Joel moved the chair to the island and dumped my canister of flour that I had out because I was going to make cookies. Needless to say I didn't have any flour left to make cookies.

Ooops.....

Aren't I cute mom!

Unfinished projects.......

For those of you who know me well, know that I have a problem with starting projects and then starting more projects before the other ones are done. This has been something that I am really trying to fix, because not only will it help me be more organized but it will also cut down on the "project clutter piles" that are around the house. The Misc clutter piles are what have really been annoying me lately. All these different projects are sitting there and every time I walk by them it's like they are calling out saying "Finish Me", but something else always seems to come up. Yesterday I started yet another project, that being, I gave the boys their own bedrooms and did a lot of rearranging upstairs. So today's goal is to finish putting everything away, all the toys, clothes, and the decorations. I also need to clean the bathrooms and while I am at it I need to dust upstairs, I don't think I have done that for the past month or two? In my picture perfect world, everything would get put away after using it, the bathrooms would clean themselves, the boys wouldn't get sick, and the laundry wouldn't pile up.....BUT since we live in reality that is not going to happen. I guess what i am saying is that I need to learn to "roll with the punches" better and not let the little things throw of my whole routine. I need to manage my time a little better so that the projects and house cleaning get done in a timely manner...SO I am now off to tackle the unfinished projects upstairs so that it is nice and clean by the time Jason gets home and then I can really relax playing with the boys, making cards, watching old movies all while enjoying a clean house!

Our Christmas Tree:

For those of you who know me know that I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! I love the smells, the lights, the music, the baking, the getting together with family and friends to celebrate Christs birth! This year I got to set up our Christmas tree a little early. I was doing a big open house the day after Thanksgiving and I wanted the house to be all festive and pretty. I always like to do a color theme for my tree. In the past I have done red, silver and black, which I love! I have done red, green and white. This year I did Chocolate brown, red, and green! I love how those colors look together! I get most of my ornaments from Hobby Lobby, they have a great selection and they are always on sale!

I am known for getting tall and fat trees, however this year I was able to find a tall and skinny one that I liked! Well here are a few pictures of the tree, it definitely looks better in person with the lights on at night, I will add some more pictures a little later.