Kids Update, Weight Watchers, and Text Messaging Research Papers...

Don’t mind the time; I’ve never been able to sleep worth anything at night. Add on top of that being wired from the treadmill and things aren’t looking good sleepwise for me tonight.
Claudia has this new thing where she comes up with excuses to say "I’m sorry" and give hugs. She’ll pinch your cheek or "accidentally" step on your toes, and then she comes over and says "sorry, momma" and gives a big hug and then pets your cheek. It’s so cute!

I just *thought* Nadine was so smart it scared me. Claudia understands as much at 2 years old as Nadine does right now...I dunno what I’m going to do with those two, especially when they start conspiring against me.

That Weight Watchers casserole that was so terrible was called Southwestern Ham, Cheese, and Potato Casserole. The filling tasted so good on the stove, but there was way too much potato and the flavors never really blended. It really was quite bad. Even Claudia wouldn’t eat it. She came over to Dean and started spooning hers into his bowl and then brought the bowl to me and said "all done!" I think the filling has potential, though. We may rework the recipe with half the potato and some salsa and maybe even cooking the potato slices on the stove with the peppers and onions before mixing it all together to bake. If we get the guts to try to modify this recipe, we’ll tell you how it goes.

My weigh in didn’t go well this week; it was my time of the month and I bloat 3 to 5 pounds so who knows what my weight should have been. I posted a 1.7-pound weight gain on Monday that has disappeared along with Aunt Flo this morning. Oh well, it’ll be bigger loss next Monday for all the headache.

I had pizza tonight; Nadine had a craving and we took the points hit and let her have it...yum! I did well and stayed within my daily points, too.

Oh yeah, Dean has all but a small section of the lattice work up around the trailer but still hasn’t put the Easter pics in to be developed... I have seen the video we shot, and it’s as adorable as all get out, so I’m really excited to see pics of the girls and Jasmine out there.

I got inducted into Phi Theta Kappa today, the community college honor society, and it was pretty fun. I’m pretty much joining for the scholarship opportunities with 4-year universities but I really enjoy talking to the sponsor, Mrs. McLemore, who also happens to be head librarian.

Can you believe that Mrs. Pickle, my English professor last semester, had to fail FIVE students’ research papers this semester because they used text messaging lingo throughout their papers? What in the name of all that’s holy is going on in our educational system that these students 1) used text messaging lingo in the first place, and 2) argued with her for over an hour because they honestly couldn’t understand why that would result in a failing grade on a scholarly project? It’s amazing, really. At Co-Lin you can meet some really insanely bright people and people who are so stupid or choose to be so uneducated that I can’t decide whether to pity them for their brain defect or be pissed off that they’re wasting federal pell grant money by attending college in the first place.

Daddy's Home!

Daddy finally made it home. We’re in that wonderous honeymoon period you only get when the one you love isn’t available a good bit of the time. I think the best thing to happen in our marriage (besides the girls) is our time apart; we cherish the time we do spend with each other because we know there will be times the other isn’t there. Because of his schedule, when he’s home he’s really, really home, though. It seems as though we have more time together than we did when he was "here" all of the time. It still doesn’t make being a "single mom" half of the month easy, but...

I got a new Weight Watchers cookbook in on Tuesday (not the free one, Mom) called Meals in Minutes. It’s simple, fast, healthy recipes. I bought it because while there are a lot of recipes on the WW site, most of them take more time to prepare than I have. The highest point value I’ve seen is 6, and most of those are for some rather decadent desserts. I fixed some Asian Steak and Noodles for supper. Yum! It was a very satisfying, "stick to your ribs" meal with unique flavors. So satisfying, in fact, that I couldn’t finish it all. Nadine ate all of hers and Claudia’s leftovers, too. Those of you who have had the honor of trying to feed Princess Nadine have an idea why I’m so happy about this. I got a "thank you thank you Mommy" for today’s supper. I can’t help but wonder if the healthier food she’s eating is having an effect on her reflux control; she’s asked for Tums only once since I started Weight Watchers.

There are so many things besides the actual weight loss that make me happy I joined Weight Watchers. I feel much more energetic when I’m sticking to the plan, I exercise every day and am now up to a mile of walking, and I feel like I’m finally in control of the food instead of the other way around.

Dean’s home and learning about Weight Watchers and is extremely supportive of me. He went out the day after I joined so he came home to a wife who was 9 pounds lighter. He’s told me he wants to lose weight too and that he’ll support the food decisions I make. I know I couldn’t do it without his unconditional support. The day I asked him about joining I told him I was hesitant because I’d need to exercise and the living room wasn’t set up for me to use the treadmill often. It had to be moved, let down, etc. He took the time right then on the crazy last day in to rearrange the living room so I could use the treadmill easily and told me to join. I know it helped that Mom’s lost so much weight with WW, but it’s a huge thing when your other half hops on the boat right there beside you.

Oh yeah, thanks to Aunt Lena we now know for a fact that the truck will fit (with room to spare, even!) a third car seat in the back. Dean’s in denial, but...I really think that down the road there is one more baby in me.

Spaghetti, Weight Watchers, and Mommy busts her butt

Nadine is quite the strange little princess. Yesterday we had spaghetti for lunch because I had made spaghetti the night before and her stomach was off. Spaghetti is one of her favorite foods and you can NEVER go wrong serving it to her, so when she asked me to make it again, I obliged. She comes over to me and jumps in my lap, and I’m just grateful for the cuddles, you know? She’s stopped wanting to sleep with me , so I’m usually more than desperate for cuddles. Once in my lap she gives me this huge hug and tells me that she loves my "new" spaghetti (meaning the one I made according to WW rules). I ask why and she tells me "it’s not all greasy and it tastes the best I’ve had in my whole life". She’s not given to bouts of hyperbole at all...

I tell you all of this to say that I was really worried when I started Weight Watchers that the girls wouldn’t like it and I’d be fixing 2 meals at a time. They *love* the new food. They are wanting water and not juice the majority of the time. I’m amazed how quickly they are starting to like healthy foods and really energized by it. They still get 2% milk and good fats and treats, but I’m impressed with how they’re taking the change. They usually aren’t good with change, but they’re going with this one, which is great because I lost another 2.9 pounds this week and am really jazzed about Weight Watchers.

If it weren’t in such a private location I’d show the massive black bruise I got from the treadmill. In a graceful manner only I could pull off, I tripped over my own feet and busted my hip against the corner of the girls’ bookshelf. The girls were more concerned with whether Mommy had broken the bookshelf than they were with whether Mommy broke her hip. The bruise is about the size of a 3x5 index card, and when Nadine saw it yesterday she told me "that’s the worst bo bo I ever did see". I asked if she’d kiss it, and she looked at me like I was stupid and proceeded to blow it a kiss and ask if the bo bo caught it. Well, it’s the size of my hand; how could she have missed it?

BTW, Dean managed to ask if I was injured before cracking up laughing at me...

Courtesy of Daddy...never before seen pics

We’ve got baby fever again. There’ll be no more kids until after nursing school, but I felt that we should warn you that viewing these pics may cause baby sickness. These are stills from video Dean has been working on...and they amazed me and made me miss the little babies they used to be.










Yep, I just suckered you into looking at my little angels again, but wasn’t seeing Nadine kiss Claudia for the first time worth it?

So one of your children disappears on you...

...and it's the mischevious one, the one you just know is somewhere creating a disaster beyond the bounds of your imagination. This one's been cutting second year molars and had a cold and has generally been quite the handful. So you prepare yourself for the worst and start looking, and you come across this:



Yep, that's mommy's favorite little demon, fast asleep...and that's Tinkerbell giving me a very stern "Don't you DARE wake that child with that camera! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get her to stop strangling me and go to sleep!?!" look. I almost felt guilty for expecting to find her waist deep in maxi pads again. Almost.

I finally found an Easter dress for Claudia. Nadine's easy to shop for, but too many Easter dresses are too super duper girly for Claudia. Simple things work well for her, so that means quite a bit of hunting any time we want to buy her a dress. I even found them both shoes that were on clearance! I love to find good stuff super cheap for the girls.

We're planning on Dean taking the Easter pics of the girls out at Emerald Mound. It's always beautiful out there, and Dean has a great eye for photography. I finally talked him into taking more pics of the girls; I hate those "propped up in front of background" shots you get at portrait studios. I just think they are such a waste of money and would rather have my candid pics and Dean taking their "official" portraits. I'm still madly in love with the first Easter pics he did with Nadine, and I'm hoping that these pics will encourage him to take over the portraits full time. We're taking Jasmine, too, because we want to get some pics of the girls with her as a tiny puppy. That's one thing I don't have of the dog I grew up with, and I'd like my girls to have some.

I started Weight Watchers last week...online, not the meetings. I saw how well Momma was doing on it and decided to give it a try. I lost 5.8 pounds my first week and all I can say is it's easy, you can cook this way and serve it to your kids, and it WORKS. I'm very excited, and Dean has decided to start eating better as well. I can't do diets with these huge lists of what you can never eat again; I'm just not wired that way. I like the points system and how you can have that little sliver of cake if that's what you're craving and not blow the whole diet or feel guilty. I'm really, really falling in love. The only downside is that now I get to spend my spring break cleaning the junk out of that massive pantry Dean built me...

I'm incredibly blessed to have the husband, children, and life that I do...even if it's crazy hectic and there's always something waiting to be done. We have a lot of love in our little family, and there's nothing better than that.

Puppies, Kittens, Children, and Spring Break

Lady Jasmine is fitting in really well with the family. Tinkerbell, Nadine's kitten, and Jasmine wrestle and chase each other from one end of the house to the other. I don't think they realize they are supposed to be enemies. They take their daytime naps together in Jasmine's crate and sneak food and water from each other's bowls.

The girls are in love with Jasmine, too. Nadine's not crazy about her greeting licks, so we've taught her to take her stool with her when she decides to play with the puppy. It puts her just high enough that she doesn't get licked in the face, so she spends a lot more time with Jasmine. Claudia loves anything furry; she runs in the house from MeMe's and first thing is "puppy gog!" I love the way she says it.

It was so fun on Wednesday afternoon when I picked Claudia up. She can talk up a storm very clearly (when she chooses), but she hadn't really been talking much to MeMe and Poppa. I told her to give Poppa love so we could go, and she gives him a huge bear hug and says "i love you Poppa". You should've seen him melt...

I had a bit of drama with Nadine Wednesday, too. She wanted to watch her movies, which had been on the DVR (think Tivo if you're not familiar). Dean had put them on DVD and then edited out the commercials and burned them again. Nadine comes to my crying saying, "Daddy burned all my movies, Mommy." Try explaining putting movies on a shiny disc to a 3-year old...LOL! She knows she still has her movies but is upset that Daddy "burned" them in the first place...

That's all that's happening around here right now. I'm off to enjoy Spring Break and maybe get some sleep...and you can print me on that.