30 by Thirty - September 30

How many times can I use 'thirty' in the title of a post? Good grief!

I've gotta tell ya, that scale just will NOT budge one tiny little bit! It doesn't matter what time of day I weigh, if I've eaten recently or not, or whether I've drank a gallon of water or not, I weigh the exact same thing! Right down the the ounce! It's very frustrating! I know I'm not doing too great on eating, but I'm doing better than I was. And I know I'm not exercising much, but I chase around two toddlers all day while I'm nursing, and then we run all around the country in the evenings to various events. Couldn't that count for something?! Oh well....

On a positive note, I have lost some thickness. I measured everything a couple of weeks ago and then re-measured today and had lost half an inch around my waist and 1/4" on the hips. Those are the only places I measured today, but I was happy with that because it means I'm getting closer to getting out of my stretched out maternity clothes. I'm going to miss their comfort, but it will be nice to have more than two outfits again!

Until next time!

That time I thought my van broke down...

Tuesday afternoon Ethan had baseball practice. No big deal. We got there and he took off to the field with his coach and team mates. I sat in the van with sleeping Elijah, hungry Melia and impossible-to-contain in an open area Ezra. A friend from church came over to chat and we talked a bit while Ezra bounced all around the inside of the van.

At 6.30, I went to the field and got Ethan since we needed to leave to go to church. We all got back to the van to load up, and I went to crank the van. There was a problem. The van wouldn't crank. I tried again. And again. And again. No luck. But then I couldn't take the key out of the ignition. I had to idea how to fix the thing!

I looked around and found one of Ronnie's friends. I had him come over and see what he could do. He found that the battery posts were corroded so he tried cleaning them off and then hooked up jumper cables to jump the van off. No luck. He cleaned some more and we tried again. No luck again. My friend from church came over with her drink and we poured it on the battery. Once again we tried to crank it, but had no luck. At this point Ronnie's friend got another vehicle brought over and we tried to crank the van with two vehicles' batteries. No luck.

In my head I'm calculating how much this could possibly cost me with towing and a mechanic, plus finding a rental we could all fit in. I'm wondering how in the world we'll be able to afford the repairs and trying to keep from crying.

By now, there were several people around. All of them were trying to figure out why in the world my van wouldn't start. It just didn't make sense. The friend from church tried to crank it one more time. And when she did, she asked why the van was in "neutral" rather than "park." No one knew, but she shifted it into "park," and tried once more to crank it. Lo and behold, it started! The only problem was that it had been in the wrong 

Guess Who Didn't Show...

Thus far, Ethan has lost five of his baby teeth. After the first three, the tooth fairy showed up, deposited a dollar bill, and left a happy child in her wake. That's how I imagine her process works on a good night,c anyway.

With tooth number four, there was a slight hiccup. By this I mean that Ethan's daddy was home. One would think assistance from a father would help the tooth fairy remember the task at hand, but no, it didn't. That fairy stayed up late talking to the man of the house and forgot why she was even at our house in the first place. Shame on her!

The next morning Ethan flew into my room in quite a tizzy exclaiming, "The tooth fairy didn't leave me any money!" Yikes! Not what parents want to hear. Ronnie quickly grabbed a spare bill and went to the kids' room to help "find" what the tooth fairy had actually left. Ethan bought it. Whew! Surely that tooth fairy had learned her lesson!

Last night, Ethan told me that his other top front tooth was loose. And indeed it was. I instructed him to wiggle it really good and saw that it was time to be removed. I offered to yank it out, but he declined, saying that he could do it himself. Alrighty. Sure enough, he got brave and pulled hard enough only to look down at his cloth to see no tooth. It was quite funny to watch. With his mouth hanging open, trying to keep his pearly whites visible and talk at the same time, he mumbled, "Is it still there?" "Yes, sweetie, it's still there. You're going to have to really pull on it hard to get it all the way out." And that he did! He pulled and there was his little tooth on the cloth! "Take a picture, Mama!" (It looked gross, so I'm not sharing.)

Off to bed went my happy snaggle-toothed little boy, anxiously awaiting his crisp dollar bill at wake up.

Only the money wasn't there when he woke up. Yup. That tooth fairy done messed up again! Apparently she was super tired and totally forgot the previous evening's events and didn't even think about delivering a reward for Ethan's bravery. At least that's what I heard. Someone really should fire this chick and get a more reliable fairy for these kids.

I was feeding Melia when Ethan comes charging at me with his Kleenex-bound tooth, declaring in an angry voice, "She didn't even come! My tooth is still here and there's NO money!" Uh oh. I explained that she had probably been, but why would she really want your tooth anyway, and told him to get dressed while I went to see if I could find his money. For a second I saw a look on his face telling me that he has the worst tooth fairy in the world. I agree, sadly.

I quickly grabbed a dollar and headed to his room, pretending to dig under his pillow and yelled out to him, "I found it! I don't know why you didn't see it! It's right here! Come see for yourself!"

Did he buy it? I don't know. Did he get his dollar? Yes. Was he happy? Yes, he was. Is the tooth fairy in trouble? Yes, I think she is. Maybe she'll redeem herself next time.

Well Checks Times Three

When I scheduled Melia's two month well check, I also bravely scheduled Ezra's two year and Elijah's three year as well.

Yes, Elijah was three in January. I've been a busy woman.

After I scheduled the appointments, I worried about the logistics of my choice. How will I hold Ezra and/or Melia while they're getting shots while also caring for the other? How will I console each one after said shots? Everyone knows that Mama's hugs take the hurt away.

When Grandma Jackie heard I was taking them all at the same time, she quickly volunteered to tag along and help out. So this morning, after I loaded up my clan, we headed to her house to pick her up and go on our adventure.

First of all, there's nothing like the looks of other parents in the waiting room when the nurse comes out and calls not one, not two, but three names and you're the only family moving. Then there's nothing like trying to get toddlers to stand still to be weighed and measured. Who am I kidding? There's nothing like doing anything with all these kiddos.  :)

Nurse Pamela and Dr. Connors are so awesome at taking care of children. They love their jobs and it shows! They both handled my three-in-one appointment very well and I was very appreciative.

Ladies first! Melia weighs in at 10lbs. 1oz. She's still a light weight! This puts her in the 23rd percentile for her age. She is 23" long which is the 60th percentile so she's just about average in length. We're hoping she starts to bulk up soon!

Ezra weighs in at 33.6lbs. He is 35" tall. His weight is the 93rd percentile and his height is the 60th. Therefore, he's average in height, but a little on the chunky side. The good news is that he is more slim than he was at his last checkup so he's moving in the right direction!

Elijah is in the 84th percentile for height, measuring 41". And his weight is 41.6lbs., which is the 84th percentile. I was told he was on the heavy side as well, but I'm really not too concerned. He really isn't big at all!

Everyone is healthy and growing, but we're preparing to investigate Elijah's speech a little further. While I can understand most of what he says, there are times that I have no clue what he is saying and we end up playing charades. Many times, when he's asked to repeat something a few times, he gets frustrated and stops the conversation. I feel so bad for him when he can't get his point across! He's a smart boy and has lots to say, but it is difficult for him to articulate. Dr. Connors explained that I should definitely be able to understand nearly everything he's saying, and others should be able to understand the majority of his speech, but that's not the case. The doctor's office is making contact with the proper venues and we'll be referred for evaluation soon. Today his hearing was tested and he passed with flying colors so we were able to rule out any audiological problems, thankfully.

And I must say, these three kiddos were awesome today! Elijah and Ezra took the flu mist with no problems, Ezra didn't flinch when he had his toe poked for blood tests, and Melia only cried a little when she got her THREE shots. I'm so thankful that they are well cared for and that we have the means to take them for medical care!

Snake!

I hate snakes. It's biblical. Remember in Genesis when the serpent convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit? And then Adam did and God found out? Then when it all came out, God told the serpent he'd have to crawl on his belly and that there would be enmity between the serpent and the woman. Enmity means hostility or hatred. Therefore, there is enmity between me and any snake I happen to come into contact with, especially when he decides to enter my home.

Last Thursday, the kids and I were getting ready to go to the library for preschool story time. I told the boys to go to their rooms to get shoes. They both went to Elijah's room, so Melia and I went to Ezra's room. Right about Ezra's shoe basket was a hole that Ronnie had to put in the wall in order to work on the bath tub faucet in the next room. I'd been after him to patch it up for awhile, but it hadn't been done. I was standing in the bedroom, looking down in the shoe basket, when some movement caught my eye. There was a snake crawling into my house through that hole! I lost it! I started screaming and yelled at the boys to get out of the house. They had no clue what was going on, but they started screaming and took off.

I ran to the phone and called Ronnie. Being 3.5 hours away, there wasn't really anything he could do. He said he'd get someone over here, but I told him it wouldn't matter because there was no way I was hanging around waiting on them. When we hung up, I went back to Ezra's room, but didn't see the snake. I wasn't about to go looking for him, so I shut the door and sealed the room off by shoving towels under it. Then I got out of there until Ronnie could get home.

When I got home that night, Ronnie had looked through the room, but had no luck finding the snake. But he was sweet and moved Ezra's bed to the other room. The door was shut again and the towels replaced.

Friday, Ronnie repeated the search. He went through the room, looked in all the dresser drawers, and messed around in the closet. (The closet is messy because that's where all my craft stuff is and it is far from organized here lately.) No snake.

On Saturday, my dear husband decided it was time to patch the hole. Finally. He did a good job and I was appreciative. He looked again, but found no slithering critter. He assured me that the snake had more than likely gone back out the way it had entered. After all that time, the door was left open, but Ezra stayed in the other room.

Monday morning, Ronnie got up and left like normal. I got up, sent Ethan to school, and then I took the other kids to my mom's so I could help her out some. We got home in time to get Ethan off the bus, to do homework and fix supper before heading to church for revival. Things were going well.

Then I had to go to the bathroom. Sorry if this is TMI. I was sitting there when a movement caught my eye at the full length mirror across from me. It was that stupid snake. I jumped up and ran out the bathroom and then out the front door. The boys followed me. I was looking for the shovel, but I couldn't find it. I started looking for anything to kill that booger with. He wasn't getting away again! (In my mind I was trying to figure out how to get everything we would need for the rest of the week in 2 seconds in case my plan to kill this thing didn't work.) Looking around our yard, I saw a tomato plant and there was a porch rail that Ronnie had used to stake the plant. I ran over to it, yanked it out of the dirt, ripped the plant off of it and started back inside. I yelled for Ethan to get Melia and to keep everyone outside.

In the bathroom, the snake was still where he had been. I stepped onto the bath tub and rammed his body with my stick. He took off under a box that was sitting at the wall. I used the stick to throw the box out of the way and started jabbing him with the stick. I couldn't see his head because he went under a pile of clothes, so I was hitting his body. That's when he brought his head out and struck of the the stick. I tried to hit his head, but missed again and he struck again. I just kept hitting him with the stick with all I had, the whole time praying out loud for God to please help me because I couldn't do this. Finally, I hit his head and he stopped striking. I hit him a couple more times for good measure and walked out of the bathroom.

I called my daddy and asked him to come dispose of the corpse, then I called Ronnie to tell him that I had gotten the snake. Neither of them could hardly understand me because I could barely talk. I could barely breathe and I was shaking like never before. I walked outside to where my babies were and fell on the ground. I just sat there, shaking, until my daddy got there.

My sweet daddy went in and got the snake out. He made sure it was dead and then disposed of it for me.

I had trouble sleeping last night because I kept seeing that snake every time I closed my eyes. But I am thankful for many things in this situation. I'm thankful that I was the one who saw it both times. If the boys had seen it in their room, they probably would have picked it up, thinking it was a toy. I'm thankful it didn't bother my babies while they were sleeping. I'm thankful it didn't bite anyone. And I'm thankful that God gave me the strength and courage to kill it, because that wasn't me.

30 By Thirty - 9/23

Not too much to post about this week because I didn't do very well. I tried eating less, but I was hungry all the time. This led to me overeating right before bedtime. Then there's the fact that I only exercised one time all week. Not a good combo.

I forgot to weigh this weekend, but I remembered today. It was lunch time (I like to weigh first thing in the morning) and I had been eating and drinking through the morning, but I was right around where I started. So, I didn't lose, but I didn't really gain too much either. And that's a good thing.

Oh well. I'll try to do better this week. I'm trying to eat more at breakfast to curb daytime snacking. We're also eating supper earlier because we have revival this week so maybe that will help as well.

30 By Thirty

I'll turn thirty in February.

On one hand that seems so young, but on the other it seems a little old, er, mature. I don't feel old, but I've had a few health things that have reminded me that it is time to lose some (all?) of the baby weight I've accumulated in the last seven years.

There's the whole gestational diabetes thing. I've been diagnosed three times and was told that because of this I am at a much higher risk of developing diabetes later in life. I don't want that.

Then Ronnie and I had physicals done for a new life insurance policy and it revealed that my triglycerides were slightly elevated. My dad is on medication for this issue and I really don't want to follow in his footsteps.

So what's a girl to do?!   Well, this girl decided that she is going to attempt to lose thirty pounds by her thirtieth birthday.

I weighed at my parents' house (I don't want scales at my house so I don't become obsessive.) last weekend and again yesterday. And in the first week I'm down .6. Not too bad!

I'm not going on any crazy diets. I won't limit myself to only certain foods or take anything crazy. I'm going to work on portion control and some exercise. I'm not going to stress if the pounds don't melt away because I'm still the sole source of nourishment for Melia.

I plan to post periodic updates here an d am using myfitnesspal.com to log food and exercise. I hope these two things keep me accountable!

Are you trying to lose weight? Or get healthier? What are you doing? Is it working?