Busy Busy

It's been a while since I wrote because life seems to have gotten very busy.  We had Carolyn's birthday, then last weekend functions to attend, and this weekend Carolyn has been battling an ear infection.  If she gets some good sleep tonight I think she'll have it beat in the morning.  But she wakes up and thinks she's better, then is sapped for energy until she gets to sleep again.  So tomorrow will be another day of snuggles, reading books, doing puzzles, and maybe even an art project.  Anything really to help get her to sit still.  She was running around in the basement this afternoon, but too tired to even sit on the couch by herself an hour later.  So hard to figure out a 4 year old.  Jon isn't feeling well either now, so not sure what's up.

My promotion has been going well and I am definitely much busier and billing many more hours.  I think I will average about 11 hours a week for April once the day ends tomorrow.  It's nice to earn a bunch for a cushion right now to put towards the car to pay it off early.  But I don't feel too overburdened with the work, so it's good so far.

Haven't done any new recipes lately.  With nicer weather we've been grilling some, which is a nice change and easy to cook up a few nights at once.  Tonight we did pizza.  The crust came out so much better using freshly shredded cheese it was really amazing.  Definitely plan to do it again with freshly shredded cheese.  Tomorrow I'll do meatloaf again, making a full 2lbs of meat so we'll have plenty for leftovers for lunch or another dinner.  Then we'll grill Tuesday and do sausage and peppers on Wednesday.  Then Thursday and Friday we'll have leftovers.  We went to Sam's club yesterday and stocked up on some grilling foods, got some big blocks of cheese, a box of eggs, and a big bag of almonds.  So now our weekly trips should be a bit cheaper for a few weeks.  We might go back for the next free preview, but it's not worth the membership at this point.

In other exciting news, I've hit my first 10lb milestone.  Weighing myself yesterday I am down a full 11lbs since starting all of this in January.  I can fit into my old pair of jeans, which is extremely exciting.  For the first time in my life I'm losing weight without being hungry all the time!  It did take me 3 months to lose the 11lbs, but slower weight loss is what generally tends to stay.  So I'll take it.  I have definitely discovered that I do better with a slightly higher intake of carbs.  I am in a better mood and I lose weight more effectively.  I'm probably up around 75g carbs/day, going most of the day very low because breakfast and lunch and each under 10g most days and then for dinner I'll have some sort of starchy vegetable.  Seems to be working!  I love that I don't have to give up all the foods I like and can have treats on special occassions without completely derailing my weight loss efforts.  I only wish I had come upon this earlier.  It will be interesting to see what weight my body settles into after a year or so.  If I can get down below 178lbs by the time I go in for my next doctor's appointment, I'll be thrilled.  That's where I was when I got pregnant with Carolyn nearly 5 years ago.  5lbs in 2.5lbs I think will be very doable as well.

Well, off to get some rest so that I don't catch what seems to be going through the house!

All Is Well

Today was a wonderful day.  We took Carolyn to the pediatrician and got a chance to talk about our concerns.  Her moods have really stabilized lately, so we didn't discuss that.  We did talk about the bloody noses - suggested that is allergies.  So will keep an eye on it but not treat it unless it gets worse or is actually bothering Carolyn.  Talked about the bed wetting - found out that 15% of 5 year olds still wet the bed nightly.  Won't need to even think about anything unless she's 6 and having problems.  So for now we'll just keep doing diapers until she starts waking up dry.  And we discussed the night waking.  Since she doesn't resist going back to bed, she said there isn't much to truly worry about.  Perhaps the pedi telling Carolyn she needs to let us sleep will help.  My fears of hearing about her being underweight did not come true as though she's only 32.4lbs, she's also only 39", putting her at exactly 25% for both!

We came home and played around the house, had lunch, and both kids took wonderful naps.  I took a 20 minute powernap before working because I was SO exhausted.  Was still able to get everything done so I can relax tonight.  Had a snack, then played outside until I had to work.  Carolyn is already super fast on her new bike!  By the end of the summer I'm thinking she'll be going up the hills with no problem.  I tutored this afternoon, then we played in the basement while dinner finished cooking.  Now James is asleep and Carolyn is working on getting to bed.  What a terrific day.

Happy Brithday Carolyn!

Carolyn turned 4 yesterday!  Didn't have time to write since I was busy decorating her Curious George cupcake cake and cleaning for the party.  She had a wonderful time with two of her friends, Ellison and Lily on Friday.  And then we had family over yesterday afternoon.  Carolyn is quite spoiled and received everything on her list.  Although how can you say no to an alarm clock, big girl bike, books, clothes, and gardening tools?  I love that we have low key parties where she gets a chance to visit/play with everyone here.

Things have been pretty busy otherwise as well.  Jon had an interview last week.  He thinks it went really well and we're hoping/praying he'll hear back soon about round 2.  They said this week, so hopefully tomorrow!  I have worked 13-14 hours the past 2 weeks with my new promotion.  That's enough to not even need my in person tutoring and be over what I need for the month (45hrs)!  So I should get to keep a bunch of the cash and we can pay extra toward the car.  A nice thought since we keep hoping we'll be ready to sell and move next Spring.

Tomorrow we go for Carolyn's 4yo check-up.  There's a list of things to discuss with the pediatrician and hopefully we'll find some answers.  Between the bloody noses, minimal weight gain, restless nights, and wetting the bed (through a diaper), I'm hoping to figure something out!

I've been horrible this past week with eating.  But I'm back on track today with no grains.  Once the cupcakes are gone I will be no sugar as well.  I'm reading The Primal Blueprint right now and am interested in how the idea differs from Wheat Belly.  I think it's more adjustable and I will do better with the slightly higher carb level (50-100).  I've been cutting back on dairy more as well to see if that makes any difference.  About 6 more weeks until I'm done nursing and then can truly focus on getting my body into the best shape it can be.