Almost ready to show!

I've spent the past 2 weeks cleaning out the house.  We got rid of a lot of the junk that has accumulated since James was born.  I discovered we have TONS of toys.  But mostly everything is under control now.  I will be spending this next week cleaning what remains.  We're getting the deck done and the driveway resealed.  Hopefully we'll be able to sell for a doable price fairly quickly.  We're still praying that Jon can get the job at Fenwick.  It really could just be an amazing life for us.  We figure that if they can come in at $50k, we can make it work.  And that's not too crazy with his 5 years of experience, master's and lcsw.  Oh, how much simpler life could be.  There's some houses over there that we can look into once we get a savings built back up as well.  I just want to be able to walk places!

Life feels a little less stressful now that the house is cleaner.  The kids are enjoying having lots of space to run around in, especially as it's over 90 outside today.  What's amazing though is that we haven't had to turn the a/c on yet.  It is still under 80 in the house since we closed it up early this morning.  Tomorrow might be rough though since we won't get a good cool-off tonight.  But it's supposed to be 60 by Thursday, how crazy.

I'm interested to see where life will be by August.  We have a lot planned for June, but plan to relax in July.  We would love to get the house sold quickly and then start planning where we'll go.  Hopefully we'll know where we want to be headed in the next 2-3 weeks.  Ideally Jon can have an interview next week, then we go on vacation and sell the house.  We've been waiting for a break, maybe this will be it?  Certainly would be amazing, but it's all in God's hands at this point.

Another pound makes 12

I'm down 12lbs since I started this in January.  Not rapid weight loss, but slow and fairly steady hopefully means it'll stay off.  I don't feel deprived either, which I think is key.  This past week I've been indulging in dark chocolate a lot more frequently.  What's awesome is that just 1 square hits the spot whereas I ued to want 1/2-1 whole bar of milk chocolate - how crazy is that?  I think Jon is coming around a little more as well, enjoying eating more meat in place of the pasta.  Looking forward to this week's meals too as I thought about them: whole baked chicken (fries and fresh brocolli), meatloaf (mashed potato and frozen veg), steak (watermelon and veg), and sausage and peppers.  I've found that by eating a fairly high carb dinner I feel better overall, so I'll keep doing that.  I'm enjoying exercising more now as well since it's not so forced.  Looking forward to my body weight workout in an hour or so.  Can't wait until I can actually do a pull-up!  Losing weight will obviously make this easier too.

Lots of changes going on around here lately.  This biggest is that we've decided to officially try our house on the market.  I spent last week getting started on the house and have 2 more weeks to finish up.  So my goal is to have the house completely decluttered by Memorial Day so I can spend that week really cleaning everything.  The first floor is almost done, so I don't think it should be too hard.

Jon also has an interview on Tuesday.  It's a middle school, but would mean ~$5k raise, cheaper insurance, and if we can sell, cheaper rent closer to there.  It could be a pretty awesome set-up.  Looking like we have a few choices that could lighten financial stress if he can get out of Zion and we can sell.  We'll have to see what God has in store for us.  Surely something will work out!

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.

Promotion!

Thursday afternoon my boss' boss sent an email requesting to speak with me on the phone.  I told her what hours I was available on Friday and asked if I should be nervous.  I immediately starting running through the reasons she could want to talk to me.  For whatever reason, my initial thought was "what did I do?"  I couldn't come up with anything, and this company is really good about not blind siding people with bad news.  You get a couple bad reviews, then a warning, and if you're being let go, you have to know it's coming (or are choosing to ignore the signs).  She said not to be nervous (as if that were possible) and we set up a time.  I tried to stay busy Friday morning until the phone rang.  She started by asking if I liked my boss.  I said yeah, things were good.  Then she mentioned that she knows I've shown interest in a promotion and wanted to know if I'd like to start next week.  I was definitely shocked by the immediacy of this, despite hoping for the promotion for a while.  I was figuring my current boss would get a full time job and then I could have her job.  But I'm going to be getting my own team of mentors sometime this coming week.  Starting out small (4), in addition to the 71 tutors I have, but will shift to fewer tutors and more mentors over time.  I'm excited, but at the same time a little scared.  It will all take some getting used to.  But in the long run, hopefully this means fewer hours I need to work and more flexibility.

Still hoping Jon can get a new job for next year though.

Today was another weigh-in day and I'm down another pound.  I have now lost 9lbs since starting all of this.  I tried to run today and struggled again.  The hills certainly don't help, but my body is just not cooperating.  Will be doing crossfit some more this week and hopefully over time running will be more enjoyable.  I did cut over 2 minutes off my time, but everything seems to hurt.  I continue to be totally exhausted lately and we have no idea why.  Saw my doctor this past week and my lung function is improving, will recheck again in a month.  I really hope that we can figure out what in the world is going on with my body.  The exhaustion and dizziness combination is really getting to me!

Odd Behaviors

So Carolyn has been acting, well, different lately.  She's been saying please and thank you less, talking back more, started telling lies, and just generally not acting nice.  We've tried talking to her about it, tried ignoring it, and yesterday we left the park early when she started stomping her feet (I forget what it was about).  She complains about being tired all the time, despite an early bed time (7:30/45) and taking nearly daily naps.  She continues to eat fairly voraciously, asking for multiple helpings of meat loaf tonight and finishing her green beans and having some of her potatoes for dinner.  She continues to devour books, always asking to be read to, and draws on the easel and wants to do her "preschool" worksheets.  Everything she does she excels at, yet her behavior lately has been ugly.  She has even been having a little trouble in gymnastics and soccer as of late.  The only thing that I see that could be a sign of a health issue is her bedwetting.  She'll be 4 in about 2 weeks and she needs a diaper for sleeping.  When she falls asleep in the car she wakes up soaked.  And multiple times a week she's waking up with wet sheets, despite wearing a diaper.  So what's going on here?  Are these 2 things linked?  If anyone has any ideas, I'm interested in hearing them.  Definitely plan to talk with her pediatrician when we go for her 4 year old appointment in a couple weeks.  Saw a glimpse of the old her tonight during dinner and our walk.  But this is all puzzling.

Made a great dinner tonight that had the kids asking for more.  It's a great feeling as a mom to cook a healthy meal and have your 1 and 3 year old children asking for more meatloaf and green beans.  Neither of them ate much of the mashed potatoes (with butter, garlic, and salt), but that's okay by me.  They each had 3 helpings of meatloaf, which I made with almond flour instead of bread crumbs and omitted the worchestershire sauce after seeing "modified food starch" and "wheat" on the label.  Even Jon said it tasted just like normal.  I put some coconut oil on the green beans and couldn't taste it at all.  Will probably start pulling things out for Jon before doing things like that though, as he didn't like it.  But overall a great dinner that will be repeated again, possibly even within the next week or so.  Could become a regular meal if we can continue to find the ground beef and ground pork so cheap at Joseph's.

Meatloaf
0.5lb ground beef
0.5lb ground pork
1 egg beaten
almond flour
1/4 tsp garlic salt, ground mustard, pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Combine ingredients and shape into loaf.  Cover with ketchup.  Place in baking dish and cook for 1 hour at 350.