Monthly Update!

Okay, so I was thinking about updating the other day and never got to it...so here I go....

I wrote a post back in January that I never followed up on! I was scared because Alaina would stop breathing and just seemed so sick...well I took her to the doctor the next day and she was admitted to the hospital for RSV. She stayed one night and they did breathing treatments every 4 hours and chest percussions as well. Sophie and Alaina pretty much stayed on breathing treatments for the rest of the winter it seemed like. They were really hit hard with RSV (Yes, Sophie had it too, but since she's older she wasn't hospitalized and we just did the breathing treatments at home and she got cough syrup to take at night as well).

So fast forward to present-day!

Sophie is WONDERFUL!! She is so much fun fun fun! She's talking in sentences now (short ones) and her vocabulary is great. She's still a little bit behind for her age it seems like, but just a little bit. And I'm okay with that. She will catch up.

Sophie is obsessed, and I mean OBSESSED with Blue's Clues and Dora the Explorer. Its one of the first things she asks about when she wakes up in the morning. After the family "roll call" though. She says "MOMMY!!" and I say "GOOD MORNING SOPHIE!!!" and then she points across the room to Alaina's crib and says "Yay-na?" And I say "Yes, she is awake in her crib" and then she says "Where's Daddy?" and I usually tell her "at work". She says "At work? Oh otay" and nods her sweet little head. Then she says "Yah-yee" (Charmin, our dog) and I tell her that she's in the living room. The she says "Up", so I get her up and as I am changing her diaper, she asks "Um...where's Mom-mom?" (work) "Eh(and) Poppy?" (work) "Eh Dosh (Josh)?" (work) "Eh Dadid(David)?" (school) "Eh Mamoo?" (Downstairs at work) "Eh Papoo?" (downstairs at work) "Eh, Yell(Michelle)?" (at school) "Ohhhh. Mommy! Blue's Clues!!!" So I tell her wait a minute while I get Alaina up and changed and then we will watch Blue's Clues.

And before you judge, non-parents....YES, I let my children watch TV. I LOVE THE TV. I used to be one of those people that thought that I would never let my kids watch TV because it would ruin their mind. But I totally let my kids watch TV. However, I don't let them JUST watch TV. While they watch TV, they are playing with their toys. Sophie runs around with Charmin. Alaina pulls herself up on things and tries to grab whatever she can reach. They don't just sit their fixated. So no judging. Not here. Go to someone else's blog for that :). Rant over.

Yes, I said that Alaina is pulling up and standing up! So let me tell you how that went...She started crawling over a month ago. The day after she started crawling (at 7 1/2 months), she started pulling herself up. Yes, I am one proud momma! She is now standing on her own for a few seconds, before she freaks out and sits herself down gently. She's such a joy. A happier baby I have never seen before.

We went to the lake on Saturday with my in-laws. Such a great time was had by all! Even Sophie (who FREAKED out in the swimming pool) LOVED the lake. Donna and Mike rented a pontoon (I have no idea about spelling that one) and we went out for almost 6 hours. The girls did not cry one time. They both got in the water with us too and LOVED it. At first, they weren't too sure about it, but by the end of the day, Sophie was wanting to jump in on her own and swim away from us (which had Donna and I a bit nervous, I gotta say. We couldn't let her do that just yet!!). Did you know that Watauga Lake is the 3rd cleanest lake in the country? That is the ONLY reason I got in there. You won't see me caught dead in any other lake (unless its #1 or #2 on that list). Actually, you MIGHT see me caught dead in a lake with all the other dead bodies that are dumped in lakes by murderers. SHUDDER. But thats the only time you might see me in another lake (but you might not recognize me if my body parts have been disassembled). Anyway, the point of this paragraph was that we had an amazing time and I look forward to doing it again.

I start school tomorrow. I am so excited!!! Only 8 semesters left until I have my MASTERS DEGREE!!! (If all goes as planned, and gosh- I pray it does!!). Yes, thats right. I have changed my major and my whole plan. I was thinking that if I get into the nursing program at Northeast next year, then I will still have 3 yrs of school left...why not go one year longer for a masters degree and make alot more money at something that I had originally wanted to do with my life (before kids)? So...heres the plan, readers: This is my last semester at NE State. In the Spring of 2011, I will be transferring to and attending ETSU to get my bachelor's of science degree. I will be majoring in Human Health with a minor in Health Science. Then in the fall of 2012, I will be attending the graduate program at Milligan College for my Masters in Occupational Therapy. YAYYYYY!!!! So thats the plan, Dan....

Well, its getting late and I must get my beauty sleep (Lord knows I need it!!)

Oh! Wait! Gotta throw in something here! My best friend, Molly Duncan, has recently started doing photography. She is phenomenal! You find her on facebook by searching for "Hoot Photography" and see her fabulous pictures. She has done pictures for the girls and pictures of Michael and me. I'll post a couple just to show you how talented she is!!

We're still here!

Happy 4th of July Everyone!!!





Yeah, its been awhile since I've updated. Sorry about that. Life has gotten in the way of my blogging.

In the past 3 months:

~I finished Spring Semester with one B (in A&P2) and the rest are As. I was pretty pumped about it.





~I applied to the Nursing Program for Fall 2010.





~I received a letter of denial into the Nursing Program for Fall 2010 because I need microbiology(which isn't even a prereq). Can you believe that ONE class made that much of a difference in my overall score?? If I had taken Micro already, my score would have been over 1,000 points higher. So...I will be trying again next year! I'm trying to keep my chin up, although rejection is hard to take. I don't think I have ever been rejected for anything academic...I usually excel in things, so this was a jab to my pride. But pride goes before fall, so I'm just getting over it and I'm not giving up.





~Sophie celebrated her 2nd birthday on June 6th.





~Sophie has started talking and mimicking like crazy...and her favorite word is "NO". But she's very polite and says "please" and "thank you" without prompting now (most of the time)!





~Our little redhead Alaina has hit a few milestones. She's rolling and sitting up and ALMOST crawling. She's "scooting". She is quite chatty too and says "Mama" quite a bit and just babbles. Michael calls her our little monster. She is honestly one of the happiest babies I have ever been around. She is now 7 months old and almost 16 lbs and 27 in long (I am guessing bc at her 6 mon check up she was 15lbs 5 oz and 26 1/2 inches long).





~Alaina is eating solids now. Well....baby food. I'm still not quite willing to put pureed peas and carrots into the "solid foods" category.





~We have been working hard and saving hard to go on vacation, which we are leaving for next Saturday, the 10th. We will be gone for a full week and are SO excited!





~I have started being crafty! Yes, thats right- ME- Crafty?!?! Who'd a thunk it? I am making and selling Baby wipes cases, Tutus for little babies and toddlers, Boutique Korker Bows, and Pillowcase dresses. To view my stuff, you can go to: http://www.thriftymommacrafts.blogspot.com/
Email me if you'd like to order something!





~I have become even MORE addicted to facebook than I previously was and have a wonderful obsession with Ebay.





~I have started cleaning a house once a week for some extra money. Cleaning isn't my favorite thing to do, but hardcore cleaning someone else's house for 4-5 hours is quite a work out!!





~We recently got a new Charcoal Grill, and Michael is enjoying learning how to grill and is doing quite a good job. Our meals have been quite tasty lately.





So I think I hit all the highlights....There's not much going on around here, but we find ourselves quite busy with our 2 little girlies. I am so very thankful for 2 healthy and happy little girls.

Updates

So...Alaina went to the Doctor last Friday and she weighed 12 lbs 6 oz with all her clothes on, so she's probably around 12lb 4oz without her clothes. I can't believe how big she's getting! It seems like yesterday was Nov 25th and we were meeting her for the first time! By the way... Not sure how long she is...I'll find out at her 4 month appt at the end of this month.

Sophie went to the ear, nose, and throat doctor last Friday and she is getting tubes put in her ears next Wednesday. I'm so relieved! Hopefully she'll catch up with her talking soon after the procedure!

Anyway...just wanted to post those quick updates. Will post more later....waiting on a friend to go see the movie Alice and Wonderland...so I don't have alot of time to write.

Take Care!

My, my...how the time flies!

Its been awhile since my last post. Life has been busy and crazy.

30 Day Shred? Heck, it was more like a 7 day barely-a-shred for me. I guess I stopped doing it when Alaina was put in the hospital for RSV and Sophie got sick with RSV too. Shew, that was a nightmare. Breathing treatments every 4 hours and lots of spitting up mucous. My poor babies. They are better now though. Thank goodness. It took awhile to get them better, though. Especially Sophie. She also keeps getting ear infections! We've taken her back and forth to the doctor these past couple of months and its always the same thing- ear infection! Also, we are concerned with her language developement. She just isn't talking like she should be. She says words when we prompt her to (most of the time) but she doesn't just say words on her own (Other than "Dad" "Momma" "Please (Deez)" and "No"). She just likes to be lazy and grunt and moan and point. She has an evaluation with a speech therapist soon so maybe we can find out how to get some words out of her. She also has an appointment with an Ear Nose and Throat Doctor next Friday to get her hearing tested. Her timpanic membrane (ear drum) isn't vibrating like it should. And when your ear drum doesn't vibrate against your auditory ossicles to the oval window and up into the Cochlea and out the round window(this is my geek A&P knowledge coming out)....there is no hearing going on. So Sophie can hear very little right now. Probably because of fluid build-up in her auditory tubes.
Alaina is growing like a weed. She's 3 months old today. Probably weighs about 12 1/2 lbs already! However, she doesn't look chunky. Still really little. Long and skinny sums it up pretty well. She is SUCH a thumb sucker. Its the cutest thing. She won't take a pacifier at all. She'd rather suck her thumb or use me as her pacifier (I breastfeed her). Which makes me feel like a cow at times. :) Speaking of pacifiers....Sophie has been off of hers for 9 days now. I'm so proud of her! We just went cold turkey and she's done great. Although she freaks out if she sees one of her pacis laying around and she can't put it in her mouth. We have hidden or thrown out all the pacifiers now, I think. I hope.
Michael and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on February 23. Okay, we didn't actually celebrate it on Feb 23 because I had school. We celebrated on February 22. But you get the idea. I proud that we've made it this far. We've had to overcome ALOT of things the past two years. More than what most people have to go through in 10 years of marriage. Its almost been the death of us a few times, but we've hung in there and are so happy for it.
So for the last year I have been struggling with the loss of a friend. Not any friend- my very best friend. She didn't die or anything...but something happened to cause us to not be friends anymore. And it was probably one of the worst ways to end a friendship. Lots of hard feelings and sadness associated with it. Well I talked to her last night very briefly after over a year of silence. It was very emotional for me. Probably for her too. I have been grieving her for a long long time and have never been able to get over it. There is something very intimate about a close female friendship. Probably because women talk about their feelings alot and delve deeply into their emotions. We had been best friends since we were 8 (13 years!). I feel like part of my soul died when our friendship ended. I know that seems dramatic, but its true. No one else could take her place. My other friends were good distractions and they've been good friends, but it wasn't the same. Anyway...our talk was a good one last night and, though it was brief, it lifted a very large load off of my chest. I feel like I can breathe again. It was healing. But I still feel confused about it and its still a very emotional subject. So for those of you who have been there, pray that things get 100% resolved.
I guess thats it.
Oh- school is going good. Had my first exam in A&P2 on Tuesday. Will find out my grade tomorrow. Cross your fingers for an A!!

I'm scared.

For the past week, Alaina will randomly start choking and gagging. And sometimes she coughs so hard that she spits up ALOT. She did that 3 times today already. Also, when she is asleep she will randomly stop breathing and then violently start gasping for air. Needless to say, I am scared. I'm not one of these Moms who freaks out over everything. In fact, I am probably TOO laid back when it comes to my kids getting sick. But this is different. Its not normal and theres no one in the world who could convince me otherwise. Its progressively gotten worse and the past couple nights I have lain awake in bed, listening and making sure that my sweet baby is still breathing in her bassinett.
Today has been the worst so far. I cannot tell you how many times she has had her "gasping spells" while she's slept today. I'm afraid to sleep tonight.
For those who know my Mom, she is a WONDERFUL pediatric nurse. She works at First Choice Peds, where we take the girls. I talked to her tonight and usually she makes me feel better, but she had no words of wisdom tonight or any "well, it could be...." explanations. I'm taking Alaina to the Doctor tomorrow. Hopefully we will find out whats going on, and that there is something that we can do to stop it.

So, for those of you who read my blog.....pray. please.

The Girls

So I realize its been awhile since I've posted about the family and what we are up to. And this is because its been a boring 2 weeks for us. We've been slumming it at home because of this snow and I really haven't wanted to get Alaina out in this weather. She hasn't gotten sick yet, and I am hoping to keep it that way.

In the past couple of weeks, Alaina has gotten bigger. She's filling out her 0-3 mos clothes very well now. They are still roomy, but she is able to wear them. She's sleeping through the night consistently now. She's always been a good sleeper, but occasionally after she was born, she would wake up around 3am to eat. But now she sleeps from around 11pm to 6am. Its wonderful. Of course, Sophie did this too, and then decided when she was about 5 mos old that she would wake up twice during the night. That lasted until she was 7 or 8 mos old. So I am fairly certain that Alaina won't always sleep through the night from now on, but I am definately enjoying it for now, while it lasts. Alaina is also smiling now. Not the "oh I'm about to fart or poop" kinda smile. But the "oh, you look foolish talking baby talk to me and I find you amusing" kinda smile. Its VERY cute. I might post a picture at the end of this post for all of you faithful readers.

So now onto Sophie. I think she's giving us a taste of what the "terrible twos" are going to be like. She used to lay down at night and go right to sleep. We'd hug and kiss her goodnight and she was perfectly content to go to bed. But now, she fights it tooth and nail. Also, she gets into everything. Now I know she's a 19 month old and they just naturally are curious and will get into things. But she's getting into things that she knows are off-limits and then when we count to 3, she still doesn't put it down. We can spank her and it doesn't phase her. Putting her in the corner works for about 5 minutes, but then she's back into everything. Don't get me wrong- I'm not at my wits end or anything. She's still a happy, good little girl about 1/2 the day. Its the other half that is hard to get through. But we deal with it, with lots of discipline, frustration, and love. Boy, that sounded corny. Sorry folks. Anyway, Sophie also has a new obsession with the TV. She is ALWAYS wanting to watch it. I can see this being a problem. My little brother, David, had a TV obsession when he was little, so my mom ended up taking the TV all week and on Friday nights, she would bring it out to the living room (we had a rolling TV stand, so it was easy to move it) and we could watch a movie. And then the TV went away til the next Friday. I can see Michael and I having to take the TV away. Although, I can't see Michael giving up the TV either. He has an obsession with videogames.

I start school on Thursday, Jan 12th. I have classes on Tues, Wed, and Thurs this semester, with only 2 night classes on Tuesday nights and Wednesday nights. I am looking forward to going back, but I have alot to do this semester to prepare myself to get into the nursing program. Gotta take the NET, and study for it before I take it. I've also got to complete the nursing program application and mail it in before the deadline hits in June (which gives me plenty of time, I think). Also, the FAFSA has to be filled out by March so that I still qualify for grants and certain scholarships. So I'm going to do that and I have to work REALLY hard this semester to make all A's. I want to bring my GPA back up. It went down to a 3.54 after last semester.

Theres really nothing new with Michael. Still working at JCMC. Still playing videogames on his days off (and helping with the girls, of course).

So thats whats going on right now. The end.

Day 6

Day 6- Yay!

My muscles aren't as sore anymore. And while I'm working out, I can tell a difference already when I'm doing cardio. I'm building up my endurance. That's good. I have to tell you, it is HARD to make yourself workout everyday. Which is why I am thankful for Richelle. We used to work at the same place and recently have started getting together and working out. If it weren't for her coming over everyday, then to be honest- I probably would have skipped yesterday. Yesterday was a VERY lazy day for me, not sure why. But she and Rob (her fiance) came over and while she and I worked out, Michael and Rob kept each other company in the dining room (they aren't allowed to watch us workout. haha).

So I have consistently worked out everyday, and its going great. Also, the portion control and 1 soda per day thing is going really well too. I'm not going to allow "real" sodas in the house anymore. Only diet drinks. And yesterday I bought a ton of bottled water, so it should last me for a couple of weeks.

So I am raising my water bottle to toast to Day 6. May it bring happiness, healthy choices and a good, hard, fat-burning workout.

Day 3

Day 3 of the 30 Day Shred.
Am I feeling it? Heck yes.

My legs have been screaming at me since yesterday. But that's good, right? my arms aren't too sore, but that's because I haven't gone to walmart to get weights yet, which is on my "to-do" list today. The past 2 days I haven't been using weights because I haven't had any. But filled water bottles will do in a pinch, right? haha. I tried, anyway. So I'm going to start with 3 lb weights.

So the video is really great. Hopefully I will see results at the end of the 30 days. Although, like I said in my last post...I'm not stopping after 30 days. After the 30 days are up, I'm going to start Level 2 and do that for another 30 days. I highly recommend the video.

I am also only allowing myself one soda per day. I am choosing to drink only diet sodas for those that I do drink. Other than that 1 soda, and half a glass of orange juice in the morning, its water for me- all day, every day. Sodas are my downfall, my weakness.

I'm cracking down on myself. KUDOS, Becky Edens, KUDOS.

P.S. The girls are great. They are both taking naps right now. Alaina is growing like a weed and I swear- Sophie says a new word everyday. They are my sweet little cupcakes. Sophie tries to work out with me at home. Its really cute. I'd get a picture, but that means I would have to stop working out to do so- which I can't let myself do. So...just imagine a 19 month old little girl doing squats and attempting pushups. Its pretty darn funny.

30-Day Shred

So for anyone that knows me very well, you know that I have a hard time doing things and sticking with it constantly...so I decided to start doing a work-out routine everyday. I have heard good things about Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred workout DvD (she's one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser). So I decided to give it a shot. I started it yesterday, and I am very sore today from doing it. Its not "hard". They aren't hard workouts, but its very intense. Its only a 20-25 minute workout (theres a warm-up and cool-down included), but its constant moving. She does great though. There are 2 levels- level 1 for the beginner and level 2 for the more advanced exerciser. I'm going level 1. I'm planning on doing level 2 when I finish the 30 days of level 1.

So I am going to be posting my progress regularly on this blog. Its my way of being "accountable", so that I'll stick with it and not quit. This year it is my goal to lose 40-50lbs. I need to get healthier. Not just for me, but for the girls. I don't want to be a Mom who can't do certain things with my kids because of my weight and physical condition. I want to do things with them and not be gasping for air. I also want to be a good example. I have the tendency to be overweight, as does Michael, so its going to be easier for the girls to put on weight as well. So i want them to grow up with exercise and establishing good eating habits.

So from now on, this isn't just our family blog. It is also my weight loss/getting back to a healthy lifestyle blog. If anyone wants to join me in doing this, I'll be working out every night for 30 minutes. Even if you just get the DvD and start it, I am more than happy to be anyone "accountability" partner and make sure that we do it daily and don't slack on it. This is for ANYONE, not just us overweight people. Its also for people who are interested in being more healthy and toning up their body.

have a happy evening! wish me luck!