All in One

My past two weeks, all in one post!

~Our computer stopped working again, hence the lack of blog posting. It's kind of working now, so I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't die again!

~Ryan got sick the weekend before Thanksgiving. Then Lucas, me, and Adam. Then Ryan's fever got really high and he started throwing up, and he wouldn't take any medicine or eat or drink anything.....so we took him to the ER and they gave him fluids and medicine. Now 10 days later we are all still congested and coughing. It's the never-ending cold!

~Our Thanksgiving was fun, despite the fact that we were all sick. My sister and her family came to visit. Have I mentioned that she is pregnant with #6? We are so excited! (Baby is due exactly on Ryan's 3rd birthday)

~I have lost one more pound over the past 2 weeks. This means I have now lost all 49 pounds gained while pregnant with Lucas. I'd still like to lose 5 more before the end of the year. Can I do it?

~We made our annual trek to the Santa Cruz Mountains for our Christmas tree. My 14 year old nephew Josh cut down our tree this year since Adam was at work.

~Lucas has been a night owl ever since getting sick. The night before Thanksgiving he and I were up until 4:30am. Just, you know, hanging out. He's pretty happy and awake during the day, and surprisingly, so am I. Despite my serious lack of sleep lately I haven't felt too sleepy during the day. God gives us strength when we need it!

Rainy Hat Day

It's a rainy hat kind of day around here.

Pa and Ama

My parents are great parents. They are also really great grandparents! Ryan calls my Dad "Pa", and my Mom "Ama".

They both do so many amazing things for their grandsons, which in turn is a huge help to me. It could be taking Lucas for a walk, trying to come up with a healthy snack for Ryan, watching one in the evening while I give the other a bath, playing outside with Ryan, holding Lucas so I can take a shower or do the dishes, playing cars with Ryan, rocking Lucas to sleep.....the list goes on and on. Thank you Ama and Pa. We love you and appreciate you so much!

Weighty Wednesday: Sugar Drop

I did pretty well this week with giving up sugar! I had a couple slip-ups. One was a vanilla milkshake, which I would definitely count as a dessert. Oops! Another was the maple syrup I put on my waffle while staying at a hotel over the weekend. Oops again! But other than that, my sugar intake was drastically reduced this week, and perhaps that helped with my 1 pound weight loss.

Week 20
Lbs Lost So Far: 19
Lbs Left to Lose: 6

Goals: I'd like to start toning up a little bit. I am going to start doing crunches and some other stomach and lower body exercises whenever I can find the time. Any tips on what helps to flatten a post-baby stomach?

Double Bubbles

Our first attempt at co-bathing. Both boys loved it!

123's and D's

Living with Ryan is sometimes like riding a rollercoaster. Lots of highs and lows. One minute I am yelling at him to stop being so naughty, and the next he is kissing me and saying cute things.

There has been a lot of counting to 3 lately, and I'm the one doing the counting. When Ryan is being really naughty, he runs away from me when I catch him or tell him to stop. Rather than chase him around the house, I have started threatening him by counting to 3. For example, I'll say "Ryan stop that". If he doesn't stop doing the the naughty thing, I'll say "I'm going to count to 3. If you do not stop you are going into a time out. 1......2......"

And what do you know? I've never gotten all the way to 3. There's something about the counting that is temporarily working. If and when I ever do get to 3, I will be sure to follow through with the consequence, so he knows it isn't a game. What is it about counting that gets kids to do what you ask?

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Ryan being really sweet and funny. The age he is at right now is run because not only can he say more words, but he has also developed a silly sense of humor. When you combine those two, it makes for some really cute conversations. This was us earlier tonight: (I have to preface this by saying that Ryan's word for cookie is "D".

Me: "Ryan, I really want a cookie. Can you go get me one?" (I gave up sugar this week and I was having a serious craving for something sweet!)

Ryan: "Otay". (He goes into the kitchen and looks around.)

Ryan: (Runs back to me.) "D no home!!"

Me: "Oh no! Where are the cookies?"

Ryan: "D bye-bye" (Said with a sad face)

Me: "Well can you go find them for me?"

Ryan: (Proceeds to run around the house yelling in a sing-song voice) "Oh DEEEE! Oh DEEE!"

See what I mean? So cute! And oh man, I need to trim his bangs.

Wuv You

I had a couple of days this week that were a bit more challenging than usual.

Adam left for work Tuesday morning at 6am and didn't get home until 9:30pm. I sure do appreciate how hard he works, but long days like that are hard on the Mom too! By late afternoon I run out of ways to keep Ryan happy and entertained.

Then on Wednesday morning Ryan threw up in the car, all over himself and his car seat. Thankfully he seems okay (I think he was carsick) but oh boy was it a mess to clean up.

But guess what happened in between those two rough days? Tuesday night I lay down in Ryan's bed to try to put him to sleep. I said " I Love You Ryan", like I do every night, not expecting a response from him.

Then, for the first time ever, Ryan replied "Wuv You Mama".

Yep, that pretty much made my week.

Weighty Wednesday: The Good and the Bad

I remember back to when I used to breastfeed Ryan and I was trying to lose weight.  Most of the time my hunger level would be normal, but every once in a while it would just be out of control. This was one of those weeks. I wanted to eat all day long. I'd finish dinner and be hungry again an hour later. I'd eat a huge breakfast and feel shaky from hungry by 10am. So I obviously ate a lot this week. Not surprisingly, my weight didn't drop.

Now on to the good news: I can now fit into my smallest pair of jeans! These are the ones I was wearing before getting pregnant, and they are the smallest size I have worn in a really long time. Now, they don't necessarily fit really well. They button and I can breathe in them, but they did leave a few red marks on my tummy by the end of the day. It's funny that I am only 2 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight, and yet my body is still kind of rearranged. My tummy still has a bit of a pooch like I'm a couple months pregnant.

The other good news from the week is that I went out for a jog on Saturday! I expected to go a few blocks and then collapse from weak, unconditioned lungs. But I actually lasted about half a mile before my lungs really started to hurt and I had to slow down to a walk. I want to try it again soon!

Week 19
Lbs Lost So Far: 18
Lbs Left to Lose: 7

Goals: No sugar or dessert whatsoever.

Grateful

2 things I am thankful for today. (Besides the 2 most obvious ones)

1) It is November and my toddler is wearing shorts today. Seriously, we are so blessed with this weather. Another trip to the park is on the agenda!

2) I still keep the bassinet next to my side of the bed, despite the fact that Lucas hasn't slept in it in months. Last night Lucas dove out of bed in the middle of the night and landed head first in his bassinet. I knew there was a reason I was keeping it there!

Lucas: 5 Months

Happy 5 months my sweet boy Lucas!

You are now eating "solids" once a day and you love it! You have tried rice cereal, avocado, banana, peas, carrots and apples (literally....you love to suck on my apples after I eat them). Rice cereal and apples are your favorites so far. You made a bad face both times I offered you peas. Personally, I don't blame you!

You are not much of a mover. You can easily roll from tummy to back, but then you just start crying. You don't really try to roll back the other way, although I bet you could if you really tried. You are most happy when being held.

You still smile easily at people, as long as you are in a good mood. Someone even commented to me recently that you seem much more personable than your serious older brother was/is, and I have to agree. Despite your smiles, you are still pretty sensitive. A loud noise or a dropped toy can really set you off and make you scream in no time flat.

No teeth yet, although we can see a couple spots on your gums where a tiny white dot is poking through. It almost looks like you may get your canine teeth before your front teeth. You drool constantly and gnaw on anything you can get your hands on. You grab at everything and put it straight in your mouth. And then get upset when it doesn't ease your pain. Poor guy! You even started chewing on your tongue this week. A built-in teething toy, I guess?

You weigh about 16 pounds now. You have the chubbiest thighs and the cutest double chin. I think you will be bigger than your big brother someday!

Your sleep habits this month went downhill. You have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep. A typical day of naps might consist of 3 30-minute naps. I still swaddle and nurse you to sleep at night in your crib but you are always awake again within the hour. You then sleep in our bed every single night from about 11pm until 7am, waking every couple hours.

 I love you Lucas!

Serious Goofy

This was Ryan's first year trick-or-treating. He was Goofy. Actually let me correct myself. He was Serious. I'm not quite sure he understood the concept of trick-or-treating. We would knock on the doors and then Ryan would just solemnly stand there. He even got a few comments from strangers on how serious he was.

We hit up about 5 or 6 houses before calling it a night. Once we got home Ryan perked up a bit. Whenever he saw kids coming up to our door he would shout "I shee mo people!".

He woke up this morning asking me to "Shee Mo People". Sorry buddy, you'll have to wait until next year!