More of Mom

As if anyone even cares about me because it's really all about the kids anyway, right?!

50 Days until Daddy comes home
I had this idea for a count down for Nathan. He's kind of a visual person and loved the count down we did for Christmas. He's obviously too young to really understand time, so saying Daddy comes home in 7 weeks, 6 weeks, 5 weeks, doesn't make sense to him. It turned out a little ghetto and not to scale, but it does get the point across. Nathan puts a star on the flag every day. We're down to 26 days until daddy comes home as of today.

South Carolina
I got to go see Corey over President's Day. I flew out Friday morning and came back Monday night. It was so delightful I didn't even take a single picture. We were having too much fun catching up and hanging out. It was great to see where he's been, meet some cadre and other almost-chaplains, met some new friends I hope to stay in contact with. I bought a fabulous new outfit in a size or two smaller and went to a southern gospel church service for the first time. I loved being with Corey. We were able to just pick up right where we left off. In past when he's been gone, there's always been a day, maybe two, of sort of getting used to having each other around again. It didn't feel like that this time. It might be because we've been able to talk more this time than ever before. Maybe we're more mature. Maybe we're better prepared. I'm not sure. But it was great. I took Nora with me since she is still nursing and he loved seeing her and how big she's gotten. He just jumped right in with her like he'd never taken a break from being a dad. I love that man so much. He's my whole world and it was just the best thing ever to be with him for a few days.

Biggest Loser: Week 7 (2/25/12)
Previous weight: 147
Current weight: 148
I gained a pound. Another testament to how good my weekend with Corey was. Lots of eating out and not working out once. We did talk about it a lot and kept saying "Well, we'll have to go at this time" or "Maybe we'll just go tomorrow" or "We can fit it in when we get home." There was just too much to fit in in only a few days time. It's ok. I will gladly take that pound gained in exchange for time with my best friend.
So, I resolved to do better. I spent hours that day and the next planning a weekly menu down to every last bite calculating and staying within my daily caloric intake. 5 meals- 3 slightly larger, 2 small. I tweaked it a little the second week because of a couple of recipes I didn't really like. I also felt like my milk supply was down a little, so I added an evening snack as well, which meant I needed to up my daily intake a little. I decided that even if I can't lose those last few pounds until I'm done nursing, it's not the end of the world.

My latest project
Remember this post about my kitchen wall collage? Here's what it used to look like...

There were a lot of little nity-grity things that really bothered me. It looked good from a distance, but I didn't like it when you got up close. I always vowed that when we got new photos I would redo it completely. These were taken when Nathan turned 2. I was pregnant when he turned 3 and wanted to wait until we had Nora to redo the wall. Then when we got pictures with Nora, we had absolutely no money for stuff like this.

Here's what it looks like now!!

I'm loving the frames. a) They will be easier to change out with updated pictures. b) The paper and pictures before were bumpy from being glued to the styrofoam. This is no more. c) The ribbon was coming off from around the edges and some if was fraying. This is no more. d) Styrofoam does not have a perfect 90 degree corner, no matter how hard you try. Paper does. Pictures do. They did not match and would overlap over the edge. Bothersome. e) They were so light weight that any time they were slightly bumped, they would fall right off. Further accentuating the imperfect corners that bothered me so much. This will be no more. f) I also love that it makes such a statement on a really blank wall. And that people can't help but stop and look at the pictures when see them. I feel like that's part of what pictures are for.

Biggest Loser: Week 9 (weighed in today 3/10)
Previous weight: 148
Current weight: 143
5 POUNDS LOST! Floored. Ecstatic. Excited. Pumped. Motivated. ALMOST THERE! 3 more pounds to my goal. I might just keep going... My goal for the next weigh in is to lose 4 pounds. I want to just totally bypass that 140 and keep going. Why not? I feel like I could do it. There's still enough 'squish' in my general core area that I want to tighten up. To be in the 130s would be incredible. I can't even believe it. I'm really excited that my hard work, dedication, and planning is paying off. It might have taken me a long time to put that menu together, and even though I didn't follow it 100% to a 'T', I didn't divvy too far and quickly got right back on. It's working. I'm seeing the results and it feels really good.

My goal for awhile was to get to 150. This was a weight I couldn't even remember being at. I remember getting my driver's license for the first time when I was 16 and writing down that I weighed 150, knowing that I weighed 160. And I've pretty much been right there forever, plus or minus a little bit. When I was almost down to 150, I started wondering about 140. I felt like I might be able to do it. I knew there was still some areas I on my body I could grab ahold of that I would rather not be able to. So I started changing my thinking from 'only a few more pounds' to 'let's go for another 10'. Corey told me that if I got to 140, I could have a $1000 shopping spree for a whole new wardrobe. He says now that he is so darn proud of me that he's upped it to $2000. And thanks to tax refunds (bless having 2 kids and qualifying for those education credits!), $2000 is sitting in our savings account just waiting to be spent.

One last thing... I love my husband. I'm so proud of him and his hard work. He is really dedicated to always doing his best. He's such a good influence to others around him. People can't help but be drawn to him because of his goodness. I'm so in love and I just wanted to share. I think people need to be reminded that there is indeed love in this horrible world, you just have to work at it. I have it in my life and I don't ever want to let it go.